EFFECTS OF INANITION UPON ORGANS OF RAT 85 



It forms normally about 0.71 per cent of the adult body (Jack- 

 son and Lowrey) . During inanition, the trunk becomes relatively 

 smaller, averaging 64.6 per cent in the acute inanition series 

 (64.1 per cent, corresponding to the average of 11.2 per cent for 

 the head in a larger series), and 66.4 per cent in the chronic 

 inanition series. The relative decrease in the trunk of course 

 counterbalances the relative increase in the head and extremities. 



INTEGUMENT 



As shown in figure 2 and table 3, the integument (which in- 

 cludes the skin and appendages, hair and claws) is fairly uni- 

 form in its relative weight, averaging 18.9 per cent in acute 

 inanition (or 19.1 per cent in those cases in which the viscera 

 were weighed), and 17.8 per cent in chronic inanition. The 

 average integument for normal adults (fig. 2) corresponding to 

 the initial size of these rats forms about 18 per cent of the body 

 weight (Jackson and Lowrey '12). It is therefore evident that 

 during both acute and chronic inanition in adult albino rats the 

 loss in weight of the integument is nearly proportional to that 

 of the body as a whole, so the relative (percentage) weight re- 

 mains almost the same. 



In absolute weight, the integument has apparently decreased 

 from about 45.9 grams, the normal at the average initial body 

 weight in the acute inanition series (255 grams), to an average of 

 31.6 grams, as shown in table 3. This would correspond to a 

 loss of 31.2 per cent in the weight of the integument. In the 

 chronic inanition series, the corresponding decrease is from 38.5 

 to 23.7 grams, a loss of 38.4 per cent. Apparently, therefore, 

 the loss in the weight of the integument is relatively slightly 

 greater during chronic than during acute inanition. 



The data found in the literature concerning the relative loss 

 of the integument during inanition are not in agreement. In the 

 dog, Aron ('11) states that the skin loses relatively more than the 

 muscles (therefore, more than the body as a whole) ; Voit ('05 b) 

 cites data showing a relative increase in the (fat-free) skin; while 

 Falck's ('54) data show the skin relatively unchanged in weight. 

 In the rabbit and cat, observations by Pfeiffer ('87), Voit ('66) 



