268 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Some of the authors' conclusions follow : 



" With l)oth subjects the excretion of total nitrogen during the fast remained 

 above the plane of the normal preliminary feeding period, with the exception of 

 the first day of fasting. This unique finding we have interpreted as being due 

 to the fact that the subjects began the fast from a low protein plane. In spite 

 of this unusual condition as regards nitrogen output, however, the nitrogen ex- 

 cretion on the seventh day was very close to that for the seventh day of fasting 

 men as determined by other investigators, i. e., 10 gm. 



" The largest water ingestion was not followed by the most complete elimina- 

 tion by the kidneys. A subject ingesting 1,750 cc. per day eliminated 12 to 35 

 per cent less than a subject ingesting only 1,500 cc. per day. 



'• [There was] a decrease in body weight, aggregating 7.44 per cent for one 

 subject and 7.62 per cent for the other subject. 



" No discomfort [was noted] with the exception of a slight feeling of hunger 

 on the first or second day." 



When food was taken subsequent to the fasting, it was accompanied by " a 

 marked retention of water during the first two days, and a pronounced reten- 

 tion of nitrogen from the second to the sixth day inclusive." 



On the fourth day there was a return to normal nitrogen metabolism as indi- 

 cated by the nitrogen partition. " This return to the normal was preceded by 

 an extremely excessive output of ammonia upon the third day. The return to 

 the normal we have interpreted as having been brought about simply through 

 the ingestion of nutritive material, the character of the diet having no important 

 bearing. 



" It was necessary to place the subjects upon a higher nutritive plane after 

 the fast than before the fast in order to maintain body weight and nitrogen 

 equilibrium." 



The stimulation of gastric secretion under the influence of water drinking 

 with meals, F. W^ills and P. B. Hawk (A&s. in Jour. Biol. Chem,., 9 {1911), 

 No. 2, pp. XXIX, XXX; Proc. Amer. Soc. Biol. Chem., 2 (1910), No. 1, pp. 23, 

 21t). — Two men brought to a condition of nitrogen equilibrium on a diet with a 

 low water content were given at meal time extra volumes of water, ranging 

 from 1,500 to 4,000 cc. 



" During the periods of increased water ingestion there was in each instance 

 an increase in the ammonia excretion which was directly proportional to the 

 extra volume of water ingested. This finding was interpreted as indicating 

 that the water ingestion had stimulated the flow of gastric juice, thus causing 

 the production of a greater quantity of hydrochloric acid than could be neu- 

 tralized by the customary means. ... If we calculate the increased ammonia 

 excretion, on the basis of a 100 cc. increase in the water ingestion we find that 

 the excretion was a trifle higher during moderate water drinking than during 

 copious water drinking. This would indicate that after a certain limit had 

 been reached in water ingestion each succeeding 100 cc. of water was less effi- 

 cient as a stimulating factor than were the 100 cc. portions ingested before the 

 limit above mentioned had been reached." 



The utilization of ingested fat under the influence of copious and moder- 

 ate water drinking with meals, H. A. Matill and P. B. Hawk {Ahs. in Jour. 

 Biol. Chem., 9 (1911), No. 2, p. XX; Proc. Amer. Soc. Biol. Chem., 2 (1910), No. 

 1, p. 14)- — Experiments were made with man on a uniform diet, a period in 

 which large amounts of water were taken being preceded and followed by a 

 period in which smaller amounts of water were ingested. 



" When 1 liter of water was taken with each meal, the average daily excre- 

 tion of fat was much reduced, and a similar but less marked reduction was 

 observed when 500 cc. of water was taken. 



