EFFECTS OF INANITION UPON ORGANS OF RAT 105 



inanition. On account of the variability of these organs, however, 

 more data are needed before final conclusions can be justified. 



In terms of absolute weight, taking Hatai's ('13) data for the 

 normal at the initial body weight, the testis would appear to 

 decrease from 2.50 to 1.756 grams (a loss of 29.8 per cent) in 

 the acute inanition series; and from 2.27 to 1.355 grams (a loss 

 of 40.3 per cent) in the chronic inanition series. 



Although numerous investigations have been made upon the 

 histological changes in the gonads during inanition (Traina '04), 

 the only observations found concerning their weight are that by 

 Falck ('54) showing the relative (percentage) weight of the testis 

 in the dog to remain apparently unchanged, and that by (Voit 

 '66) showing a relative decrease in the testis of the cat. 



HYPOPHYSIS 



In the case of the hypophysis, as with the suprarenal glands, 

 there is normally a sexual difference to be considered (Hatai '13). 

 When the data in table 3 are compared with Hatai's chart 10, 

 it will be found that the absolute weights of the hypophysis, 

 in both acute and chronic inanition, correspond fairly well with 

 those of the normal gland at the final body weight. That is, 

 the weight of the hypophysis during inanition has apparently 

 decreased in nearly the same proportion as the whole body, so 

 the relative weight is but little changed. As calculated from 

 Hatai's data, the (male) hypophysis would form about 0.0036 

 per cent of the body at the average initial body weight, as com- 

 pared with 0.0043 per cent found in the acute inanition series, 

 and 0.0045 per cent in the chronic series. 



In terms of absolute weight, the (male) hypophysis has ap- 

 parently decreased from about 0.0093 to 0.0069 gram, the aver- 

 age of the acute inanition series (loss of 26.1 per cent) ; and from 

 0.0079 to 0.0059 gram (loss of 25.3 per cent) in the chronic 

 inanition series. A larger number of observations would of course 

 be necessary to determine the result with precision. 



No data have been found in the literature concerning the 

 weight of the hypophysis during inanition. 



