28 ALIMENTATION. 



mentary canal, are necessarily absent ; but the bile, which 

 is an excretion as well as a secretion, is still found in the 

 gall-bladder, but is apparently concentrated. In some of 

 the observations of Collard de Martigny, urine was found in 

 the bladder, but it contained no urea. Lassaigne found urea 

 in the urine of an insane person who had not eaten for eigh- 

 teen days. 1 



The faeces are discharged infrequently, and are scanty and 

 hard, except in certain cases when diarrhoea sets in toward 

 the close of life. Diarrhoea was noted, occurring at this 

 time, in some of the observations of Chossat. 



One of the most marked and important changes in inani- 

 tion is diminution in quantity and impoverishment of the 

 blood. Collard de Martigny observed the quantity of blood to 

 undergo diminution to such an extent that the skin and some 

 of the muscles, when incised, discharged no blood, but only a 

 little serum, sometimes colorless and sometimes slightly rose- 

 colored. He is of the opinion that during the later periods of 

 inanition, many of the tissues receive no blood. 2 It is evident 

 that when the quantity of blood has become so much reduced, 

 the process of nutrition in many parts must be nearly abol- 

 ished. 



The general effect of inanition upon the circulation is to 

 diminish the force and frequency of the heart's action, ex- 

 cept during the cerebral excitation, which is so frequent 

 during the early periods of starvation. The heart becomes 

 very much atrophied, being reduced in weight nearly one- 

 half. In a man convicted of murder and condemned to 

 death, who allowed himself to die of starvation, taking noth- 

 ing but water for sixty-three days, the pulse descended to thir- 

 ty-seven beats per minute. 3 



After a certain period of complete abstinence, it is im- 

 possible to restore the powers of life by the administration 



1 COLLARD DE MARTIGNY, op. cit., p. 157. 



a Ibid., p. 168. 



8 BERARD, Cours de Physiologic, Paris, 1848, tome i., p. 529. 



