FOODS AND DIETETICS. Ol 



Coincident with this disintegration of the tissues there is an evolu- 

 tion or disengagement of energy, particularly in the form of heat. 



In order that the tissues may regain their normal composition and 

 thus be enabled to continue in the performance of their functions, 

 they must be supplied with the same nutritive materials of which 

 their protoplasm originally consisted viz., water, inorganic salts, 

 proteids, sugar, fat. These materials are furnished by the blood 

 during its passage through the capillary blood-vessels. The blood 

 is a reservoir of nutritive material in a condition to be absorbed, 

 organized, and transformed into new living tissue. 



Inasmuch as the loss of material from the body daily, which is 

 very great, is compensated for under other forms by the blood, it is 

 evident that this fluid would rapidly diminish in volume were it not 

 restored by the introduction of new and corresponding materials. 

 As soon as the blood volume falls to a certain point, the sensations 

 of hunger and thirst arise, which in a short time lead to the necessity 

 of taking food. 



In addition to the direct appropriation of food by the tissues it is 

 highly probable that an indefinite amount undergoes oxidation and 

 disintegration without ever becoming an integral part of the tissues, 

 and thus directly contributes to the production of heat. 



Inanition or Starvation. If these nutritive principles be not sup- 

 plied in sufficient quantity, or if they are withheld entirely, a condi- 

 tion of physiologic decay is established, to which the term inanition 

 or starvation is applied. The phenomena which characterize this 

 pathologic process are as follows viz., hunger, intense thirst, gastric 

 and intestinal uneasiness and pain, muscle weakness and emaciation, 

 a diminution in the quantity of carbon dioxid exhaled, a lessening 

 in the amount of urine and its constituents excreted, a diminution in 

 the volume of the blood, an exhalation -of a fetid odor from the body, 

 vertigo, stupor, delirium, and at times convulsions, a fall of bodily 

 temperature, and, finally, death from exhaustion. 



During starvation the loss of different tissues, before death occurs, 

 averages T 4 Q, or 40 per cent., of their weight. 



Those tissues which lose more than 40 per cent, are: Fat, 93.3; 

 blood, 75; spleen, 71.4; pancreas, 64.1; liver, 52; heart, 44.8; in- 

 testines, 42.4 ; muscle, 42.3. Those which lose less than 40 per cent. 

 are : The muscular coat of the stomach, 39.7 ; pharynx and esophagus, 

 34.2; skin, 33.3; kidneys, 31.9; respiratory apparatus, 22.2; bones, 

 16.7; eyes, 10; nervous system, 1.9. 



