334 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 
from 45 cc. of hydrogen peroxide; that of the rabbits starved 
for two, four and six days liberated 71, 75 and 75 cc. of oxy- 
gen respectively; that 1 gram of the leg muscle of the normal 
rabbit liberated 72 cc. of oxygen; that of the rabbits starved 
for two, four and six days liberated 58, 54 and 44 cc of oxy- 
gen respectively; that one gram of the fat of the normal ani- 
mals liberated 33 cc of oxygen, that of the animals starved for 
two and four days liberated 13 and 12 cc. of oxygen respective- 
ly while there was not sufficient fat in the animals starved six 
days for a determination. 
By comparing the amounts of oxygen liberated by the heart 
of the animals starved for the different lengths of time, it will 
be seen that starvation produced no effect on the catalase con- 
tent of the heart muscle, that it reduced the catalase content of 
the leg muscle by 37 per cent as is indicated by the decrease 
from 72 cc. of oxygen, the amount liberated by 1 gram of the 
muscle of the normal animals to 44 cc., the amount liberated by 
the muscle of the animals starved for six days. It may also 
be seen that the catalase content of the fat was reduced dur- 
ing the first two days of starvation by about 61 per cent as is 
indicated by the reduction of oxygen liberated from 33 cc., the 
amount liberated by one gram of fat of the normal animal to 13 
cc., the amount liberated by one gram of fat of the animal 
starved for two days, and that the catalase content of the fat 
remained low during the rest of the period of starvation. 
The preceding experiments show that the catalase content of 
fat and skeletal muscles which are autolyzed during starvation 
is decreased while it remains normal in amount in the heart 
which is not autolyzed during starvation. It has been shown 
that the amount of oxidation in a tissue is proportional to the 
amount of catalase present (1). From this it follows that 
oxidation is decreased during starvation in tissues such as fat 
and skeletal muscles in which the catalase is decreased, and 
remains normally high in a tissue such as the heart muscle. It 
is known that the autolyzing enzymes in common with other 
enzymes are destroyed by oxidation (2). The great resistance 
of the heart muscle to the digestive action of the autolyzing 
enzymes during starvation may be due to the intense oxidation 
in this organ, the assumption being that the autolyzing enzymes 
are oxidized and thus rendered inert. By the great decrease 
