EFFECTS ON THE ALIMENTARY CANAL 307 



Mann ('98) found the chief and parietal cells well preserved in the stomach 

 of a rabbit after 22 days of inanition (on water only?). The connective tissue 

 stroma appeared scanty. 



Sedlmair ('99) noted but little change in the relative weight of the empty 

 stomach and intestines in starved cats, the loss being nearly proportional to that 

 of the whole body (50-55 per cent). 



Fede ('00a) and Quattrochi ('01) by chronic underfeeding of puppies 

 obtained atrophy in the gastrointestinal wall, but no ulcerations, hemorrhages 

 or destruction of glands, etc., as had been described in atrophic human infants. 



Swirski ('02) measured the gastric and intestinal contents in fasting rabbits 

 and guinea pigs, and demonstrated that the feces are swallowed unless precau- 

 tions are taken. 



Smallwood and Rogers ('n) described thinning of the gastric wall in Nectu- 

 rus starved 4-16 months. The epithelial cells become vacuolated; the nuclei 

 poor in chromatin. 



Greene and Skaer ('13) found in the basal portion of the gastric epithelial 

 cells in fasting kittens and puppies a certain amount of persistent fat granules 

 (liposomes), with no relation to absorption fat. 



In several dogs and a fox which had died from protracted inanition, Morgulis, 

 Howe and Hawk ('15) found no striking changes in the stomach and intestines. 

 The parietal cells of the gastric glands remain conspicuous. The glandular 

 and surface epithelial cells in general stain poorly, with absence of cytoplasmic 

 granulation: the nuclei migrate toward the basement membrane. Leukocytes 

 often invade the mucous and submucous layers, either diffusely or in masses 

 like solitary nodes. 



In adult albino rats, underfed or subjected to acute inanition (water only), 

 with loss of 33-36 per cent in body weight, Jackson ('15) found an average loss 

 of 57 per cent in the weight of the stomach and intestines (with mesentery) 

 (Table 4). In younger rats underfed for various periods, the loss in gastro- 

 intestinal weight was much less, and in those held at constant body weight by 

 underfeeding from 3 to 10 weeks of age, there was even an increase of 28 percent. 

 Stewart ('18, '19) discovered that in albino rats underfed from birth the increase 

 in gastrointestinal weight may be even greater, reaching a maximum of 100 

 per cent (Table 4) . In the offspring of severely underfed pregnant female albino 

 rats, however, Barry ('20, '21) found the stomach and intestines nearly normal 

 in weight. 



In albino rats refed after underfeeding from 3 to 12 weeks of age, Stewart 

 ('18) found that the weight of the empty alimentary tract became nearly normal 

 within 4 weeks. Similar results were obtained by Jackson and Stewart ('19) 

 in rats underfed from birth for various periods and then refed to body weights 

 of 25, 50 and 75 g. (Table 7). In another series of rats refed to adult condi- 

 tion, Jackson and Stewart ('20) found the alimentary canal even above normal 

 weight, excepting the severely stunted group, in which it was practically normal 

 (Table 8). 



Sundwall ('17) in the stomach of a starved albino rat (on water only) 

 described intense congestion of the cardiac region, with complete loss of the sur- 



