EFFECTS OF INANITION UPON ORGANS OF RAT 93 



constant, while the body weight has decreased about one-third 

 (36.1 per cent). In other words, the results indicate a loss of 

 about 6.6 per cent in the absolute weight of the brain during 

 chronic inanition, which is slightly greater than the apparent loss 

 (5.1 per cent) during acute inanition. A larger series of observa- 

 tions would be necessary, however, to draw any final conclusions 

 with precision. 



The data agree fairly well with the results of Hatai ('04) who 

 found an estimated loss of about 5 per cent in the weight of the 

 brain of young rats during chronic inanition. Donaldson ('11), 

 however, found in still younger rats an actual increase of 3.6 per 

 cent in the brain weight during chronic inanition (body weight 

 held constant from age of 30 days to 51 days) ; while my own 

 observations (Jackson '15) indicate little or no change in the 

 brain weight under these conditions. 



It has long been known that of all the organs of the body, 

 the central nervous system apparently suffers least in weight 

 (if at all) during inanition. Thus Chossat ('43) found no loss^ 

 in the weight of the brain in starved pigeons, with loss in body 

 weight of about 40 per cent. Falck ('54) in dogs, and Lasarew 

 ('97) in guinea-pigs, found little or no loss in the weight of the 

 brain and cord during inanition. Bowin ('80) and Pfeiffer ('87) 

 found an absolute decrease (but relative increase) in the brain 

 weight of the rabbit. Voit ('66) in cats found a decrease of 

 about 3 per cent in the weight of brain and cord; while the data 

 of Sedlmair ('99) would even indicate an actual increase in their 

 weight during starvation. Data from a series of steers slaugh- 

 tered in the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station show that 

 the absolute weight of the brain and cord in thin animals is but 

 very slightly less than in very fat animals with nearly double the 



^ Since Chossat's results are often misquoted, it may be noted that he found 

 the average weight of the brain almost identical in the 8 starved pigeons and 

 in 8 controls of nearly the same (initial) body weight; (brain weight average 

 2.27 grams for starved; 2.25 grams for corresponding controls). On account of 

 the difficulty in determining the exact plane of separation between the brain 

 and spinal cord, however, Chossat preferred to combine their weights, thus giving 

 a slight decrease (about 1.9 per cent) in the absolute weight of the entire central 

 nervous system during inanition. 



