EFFECTS ON THE LIVER - 343 



In experimental rickets in puppies on calcium-poor diet, Voit ('80) found 

 the liver slightly enlarged, while Dibbelt ('09) found it apparently atrophic. 

 In rats with experimental rickets on various diets, Jackson and Carleton ('23) 

 found the liver averaging above normal weight in the earlier stages, but becom- 

 ing subnormal in severe rickets (Table n). 



Vitamin Deficiencies. — These include the effects of dietary deficiency in 

 the vitamins A, B, and C. 



Vitamin A. — Deficiency in this vitamin in rats caused no appreciable change 

 in the liver, according to Emmett and Allen ('20) and Davis and Outhouse 

 ('21). Tsuji ('20) and Meyerstein ('22) made a few observations on the liver 

 in young white rats on diets deficient in vitamins A and B. 



Vitamin B. — In adult human beriberi, Duerck ('08) recorded in 10 cases 

 the weights of the liver, which varied from 557 to 1,480 g., showing con- 

 gestion (venous stasis) and atrophic changes. Strong and Crowell ('12) 

 reported hepatic ecchymoses, with acute congestion and degenerative changes. 

 In infantile beriberi, Andrews ('12) in 18 necropsies found the liver often slightly 

 enlarged, with congestion, and slight albuminous or fatty degeneration. Nag- 

 ayo ('23) states that passive congestion and necrosis of the liver distinguish 

 human beriberi from experimental polyneuritis. 



In experimental beriberi, Funk and Douglas ('14) reported degenerative 

 changes in the liver-cells of pigeons. Schnyder ('14), in white mice, cats, dogs, 

 pigeons and fowls, found no definite lesion in the liver, aside from marked 

 congestion (especially of the central veins). The liver-cells showed (glycogen?) 

 vacuoles, but no fat. Tasawa ('15) in 200 fowls and 150 pigeons found the 

 liver sometimes anemic; the weight usually slightly subnormal and the paren- 

 chyma cloudy. Douglas ('15) reported atrophy of the liver in pigeons, and 

 McCarrison ('19, '21) found the same in deficiently fed pigeons, guinea pigs 

 and monkeys. Brucco ('20) found in dogs no atrophy of the liver-cells (as 

 occurs in starvation), but marked fatty degeneration. Findlay ('21) in fowls 

 and pigeons observed marked congestion and fatty degeneration, with the 

 nuclei often pale and vesicular, never in mitosis. Souba and Dutcher ('22) 

 and Souba ('23) obtained significant losses in the weight of the liver in young 

 chickens. Lopez-Lomba ('23) found slight, irregular losses in the liver of adult 

 pigeons on vitamin-free diet, excepting a marked atrophy in the final period. 



Vitamin C. — In human adult scurvy, Sato and Nambu ('08) found in general 

 but little change in the liver, which was usually anemic or normal in blood 

 content. No hemorrhages were observed, and the gall-bladder was filled with 

 bile. Scherer ('13) noted hepatic fibrosis. Aschoff and Koch ('19) found vari- 

 able changes, chiefly lobular fatty metamorphosis, either central or peripheral; 

 sometimes fatty changes in the arterial endothelium. No hemorrhages were 

 found; the usual amount of pigment occurred, and cirrhosis was noted once. 

 Erdheim ('18) found congestion of the liver in 9 out of 31 necropsies of infantile 

 scurvy. Hess ('20) reviewed the hepatic changes in scurvy, which frequently 

 include congestion and occasionally cloudy or fatty degeneration, or cirrhosis. 

 LaMer and Campbell ('20) found no change of weight in the liver of scorbutic 

 guinea pigs. Bessesen ('23), however, found an apparent loss in the liver 



