THE METABOLISM DURING STARVATION 699 



the amount of water required by the animal. The essential char- 

 acteristic of the state of inanition is an ever-increasing weakness, 

 accompanied by a strong disinclination to undertake any mental 

 or physical exertion whatsoever. The animal passes its time in a 

 state of sleep or of semi- stupor. In the case of Succi, who fasted 

 for thirty days, considerable muscular exertion was undertaken on 

 the twelfth and on the twenty-third day of starvation without any 

 appreciable ill-effects. A strong effort of the will must have been 

 necessary in his case to overcome the automatic instinct to preserva- 

 tion of life by the utmost economy in the expenditure of energy. The 

 pulse-rate and the body temperature remain nearly normal until a 

 few days before death, which is ushered in by an increase in the somno- 

 lent condition of the animal and by a gradual slowing of respiration 

 and fall of temperature. The urine is naturally diminished with 

 diminution in the output of urea and in the amount of water consumed. 

 Some faeces are formed, and may be voided during or at the close of 

 the starvation period. In Succi their amount varied from 9'5 to 

 22 grm. a day and contained from 0*3 to 1*0 grm. nitrogen. On micro- 

 scopic examination they consisted of an amorphous material enclosing 

 a number of crystals of fatty acids. 



During the whole of the starvation period energy is being 

 used up in the body for the maintenance of its temperature and 

 the vital movements of respiration and circulation. Since this 

 energy is derived from the destruction and oxidation of the tissues 

 of the body, it is evident that starvation must be associated with 

 a constant and steady loss of body weight. In experiments on 

 man the daily loss of weight during the first ten days amounts 

 to between 1 and 1-5 per cent, of the original total weight. This 

 loss of weight does not affect all parts of the body alike. It might 

 be imagined that, since the loss of weight is determined by the using 

 up of the tissues of the body for the production of energy, those 

 organs which are most active should show also the greatest loss of 

 weight. The very reverse of this is the case, as will be seen from the 

 Table on p. 700. 



Those organs of the body which are most necessary for the main- 

 tenance of life, the brain, the heart, the respiratory muscles, such 

 as the diaphragm, undergo very little loss of weight. Of the other 

 tissues the fat, which is a mere reserve to provide for such contin- 

 gencies, is drawn upon first, and during starvation 97 per cent, of the 

 total fat of the body may be consumed. The nitrogen needs of the 

 body during starvation seem to be supplied chiefly at the expense 

 of the muscles and glands, which waste to a very marked degree. 

 The muscles being used simply as reserve material, it is easy to 

 understand the condition of lethargy and muscular inactivity which 



