100 C. M. JACKSON 



inanition series, however, the weight of the Hver is more vari- 

 able, and the average (3.98 per cent) is but httle below the nor- 

 mal. As the liver is normally subject to great individual varia- 

 tions in weight (Jackson '13), however, caution should be observed 

 in drawing final conclusions. 



In terms of absolute weight, using my (Jackson '13) data for 

 comparison, it appears that the liver decreases from about 10.98 

 to 4.587 grams (loss of 58 per cent) in the acute inanition series, 

 and from 9.20 to 5.219 grams (loss of 43 per cent) in the chronic 

 inanition series. It may also be remembered that in the series 

 investigated by Hatai ('13), the average weight of the normal 

 liver was found distinctly higher than in my series; and the loss 

 in weight, estimated upon this basis, would be considerably 

 greater. 



With the exception of the adipose tissue, the thymus (in young 

 animals) and occasionally the spleen, all investigators agree that 

 the loss of weight in the liver is relatively greater than that in 

 any other organ. Thus the liver decreases in relative (per- 

 centage) weight, as has been observed in man (Aschoff '11), 

 white mouse (Cesa-Bianchi '09), pigeon (Chossat '43), rabbit 

 (Pfeiffer '87), cat (Voit '66; Sedlmair '99), dog (Falck '54), 

 newborn cat and dog (v. Bechterew '95), guinea-pig (Lasa- 

 rew '97) and in thin steers, compared with fat (data from Missouri 

 Agricultural Experiment Station). While the loss is practically 

 always relatively greater than in the body as a whole, the amount 

 of loss is quite variable. 



Since the loss -in weight of the liver (unlike all viscera pre- 

 viously considered) is relatively greater in acute inanition it 

 seems probable that the greatest loss occurs during the earliest 

 stages of inanition, when the liver yields its store of easily avail- 

 able food material (glycogen, fat, etc.). Thus Lasarew ('97) 

 found that during the early period of inanition in the guinea- 

 pig, while the body weight lost 10 per cent, the liver lost 18 

 per cent of its weight, or relatively near y twice as much. Toward 

 the end of the inanition period, on the contrary, the liver appar- 

 ently lost relatively onlj^ half as much as the whole body. 



