394 



OF FOOD, AND THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS. 



the following curious results, as regards the relative diminution of the several 

 tissues and organs of the body; those which lost more than the mean, being dis- 

 tinguished from those which lost less. 



Parts which lose less than 40 per cent. 



Muscular coat of stomach 39.7 



Pharynx and oesophagus 34.2 



Skin . . . 33.3 



Kidneys . . . 31.9 



Respiratory apparatus 22.2 



Osseous system . 16.7 



Eyes . . . 10.0 



Nervous system . 1.9 



Parts which lose more than 40 per cent. 



Fat . . . . . . 93.3 



Blood 75.0 



Spleen 71.4 



Pancreas 64.1 



Liver . . ' . . . 52.0 



Heart 44.8 



Intestines 42.4 



Muscles of Locomotion . . .42.3 



The points most worthy of note in the above table, are the almost complete 

 removal of the fat, and the reduction of the blood to three-fourths its normal 

 amount; whilst the nervous system undergoes scarcely any loss. It would seem, 

 in fact, as if the supervention of death was coincident with the consumption of 

 all the disposable combustive material ; and that up to that point, the whole 

 remaining energy of nutrition is concentrated upon the nervous system. And 

 it will be shown hereafter (CHAP, xin.), that there is adequate ground for con- 

 sidering death by starvation as really death by cold; since the temperature of the 

 body is maintained with little diminution until the fat is thus consumed, and 

 then rapidly falls, unless it be kept up by heat externally applied. As might 

 be expected from what has been already said of the rapidity of interstitial 

 change at the earlier periods of life ( 130), it was found by Chossat that the 

 diurnal loss was much the most rapid in young animals, and that the duration 

 of their lives when deprived of food was consequently far less than that of adults. 

 He further ascertained that the results of insufficient alimentation were in the 

 end the same as those of total deprivation of food; the total amount of loss 

 being almost exactly identical, but its rate being less, so that a longer time was 

 required to produce it. He did not find that much influence was exerted on 

 the duration of life, by permitting or withdrawing the supply of water ; but 

 this statement does not apply to Man, in whom death supervenes much earlier 

 when liquid as well as solid aliment is withheld ; and the indifference in the case 

 of Birds is probably due to the fact that they ordinarily drink very sparingly, 

 and eliminate very little water in the various excretions. 



417. The most prominent symptoms of Starvation, as they have been noted 

 in the Human subject, are as follows : In the first place, severe pain in the 

 epigastrium, which is relieved on pressure ; this subsides after a day or two, but 

 is succeeded by a feeling of weakness and " sinking" in the same region ; and 

 an insatiable thirst supervenes, which, if water be withheld, thenceforth becomes 

 the most distressing symptom. The countenance becomes pale and cadaverous ; 

 the eyes acquire a peculiar wild and glistening stare ; and general emaciation 

 soon manifests itself. The body then exhales a peculiar fetor, and the skin is 

 covered with a brownish, dirty-looking, and offensive secretion. The bodily 

 strength rapidly declines; the sufferer totters in walking, his voice becomes 

 weak, and he is incapable of the least exertion. The mental powers exhibit a 

 similar prostration ; at first there is usually a state of stupidity, which gradually 

 increases to imbecility, so that it is difficult to induce the sufferer to make any 

 effort for his own benefit; and on this a state of maniacal delirium frequently 

 supervenes. Life terminates either in the mode described in Chossat's observa- 



that time, reduced in weight from 160 Ibs. to 40 Ibs., or no less than 75 per cent. ("Trans. 

 of Linn. Soc." vol. xi. p. 411.) The extraordinary prolongation of life in this case may 

 be attributed to the retention of the heat of the body by the non-conducting power of the 

 chalk ; and to the retention of its moisture by the saturation of the air in its immediate 

 vicinity. 



