620 STARVATION. [Book ii. 



An analysis of a cat has given the following result: 



Muscles and tendons 45-0 p.c. 



Bones 14-7 „ 



Skin 12-0 „ 



Mesentery and adipose tissue 3*8 „ 



Liver 4-8 „ 



Blood (escaping at death) 6-0 „ 



Other organs and tissues 13-7 „ 



One point of importance to be noticed in these analyses is 

 that the skeletal muscles form nearly half the body ; we have 

 already seen (§ 38) that about a quarter of the total blood in 

 the body is contained in them, and have already (§ 382) insisted 

 that a large part of the metabolism of the body is carried on in 

 the muscles. Next to the muscles we must place the liver, for 

 though far less in bulk than them, it is subject to a very active 

 metabolism ; this is suggested by the fact that it alone may 

 hold about a quarter of the whole blood, and is also indicated 

 by the numerous facts brought before us in the preceding 

 chapter. 



§ 414. The Starving Body. Before attempting to study the 

 influence of food, it will be useful to ascertain what changes 

 occur in a body when all food is withheld. A cat of known 

 weight was starved for 13 days. At the beginning of the period 

 the body was presumed to have the composition given above ; 

 at the dose of the period a direct analysis of the body was made. 

 From this it appeared that during the hunger period the cat 

 had lost 734 grammes of solid material, of which 248-8 were fat 

 and 118-2 muscle, the remainder being derived from the other 

 tissues. The percentages of dry solid matter lost by the more 

 important tissues during the period were as follows : 



p.c. 



1» 



Thus the loss during starvation fell most heavily on the fat, 

 indeed nearly the whole of this disappeared. Next to the fat, 

 the glandular organs, the tissues which we have seen to be emi- 

 nently metabolic, suffered most. Then come the muscles, that 

 is to say, the skeletal muscles, for the loss in the heart was very 

 trifling; obviously this organ, on account of its importance in 

 carrying on the work of the economy, was spared as much as 

 possible : it was in fact fed on the rest of the bod}\ The same 



