220 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY 



Utilization of Alcohol by the Body. A problem of the great- 

 est importance has been to determine the position of alcohol in 

 metabolism. If burned in a calorimeter, alcohol yields over 7 

 calories per gram, and thus has a very high fuel value. A long 

 and careful study of the effects of alcohol on the body has been 

 undertaken by Benedict. In the body, small amounts of alcohol 

 undoubtedly are burned as fuel by the tissues. The effects of 

 alcohol are those of a depressant rather than of a stimulant, 

 apparent stimulation being in reality a depression of inhibiting 

 influences. Although alcohol undoubtedly is burned as fuel by 

 the body, still it is a generally accepted fact that its poisonous 

 effect on the cells more than counterbalances any beneficial effect 

 resulting from its high fuel value. 



Starvation. If an animal is deprived of food it will live for 

 some time, drawing upon its own tissues for the essential ma- 

 terials for fuel and body maintenance. The length of time an 

 animal will survive without food varies greatly with the size 

 and condition of the animal, in general a large or a fat animal 

 will survive longer. It depends also much on external condi- 

 tions. If exposed to cold or great exertions as in winter, in 

 shipwreck, etc., life may be lost in a few hours. Otherwise, fast- 

 ing may be continued for even a month or longer in the case of 

 a man, without death ensuing. Children die much sooner, 

 usually in four or five days. Recently the case of a dog was 

 reported in which the animal survived 117 days of fast. If 

 water is withheld as well as food, death occurs in a few days' 

 time. 



The study of metabolism during fasting furnishes interesting 

 information about the chemical processes going on in the body. 

 Benedict has published an exhaustive study of a man fasting 31 

 days. 



During fasting there is of course continuous loss of body 

 weight. Reserve stores of glycogen and fat are called upon, but 

 there also is a continuous excretion of nitrogenous material in 

 the urine, showing that some protein is continually broken down. 

 At an earlier point we have noted the appearance of creatine in 



