FAT AND MITOCHONDRIA IN CARDIAC MUSCLE 



15 



TABLE 4 

 Cats, fed three to ten dtnjs on wheal bread, whole mill: and moderately fat boiled beef 



two have a small amount (similar to fig. 2) and one has a very 

 large amount (similar to fig. 6) . It is evident that the myocar- 

 dial fibers of normal cats contain fat in visible form and, to an 

 extent exceeding that found in rats. After ninety-six hours with- 

 out food, rats are usually in a state of extreme inanition and show 

 very few droplets in the cardiac fibers (table 3) but the same does 

 not hold for cats. Cats (nos. 80 and 83, table 5) kept for ninety- 

 six hours without food still show a moderate amount of fat in the 

 heart. As is well known cats reach the last stages of inanition 

 only after having been kept for about three weeks without food. 

 For the purposes of this investigation, I have thought it un- 

 necessary to subject cats to a long period of starvation. My 

 results show only that during a fast of three or four days fat does 

 not disappear from the cat heart. It is very probable that in the 



