EXCHANGE OF MATERIAL. 445 



ments made by VOIT on the same dog. This dog received 2500 

 grms. flesh daily before the first series of experiments, 1500 grms. 

 flesh daily before the second series, and a mixed food relatively 

 poor in nitrogen before the third series. 



TABLE I. 



Day of Starvation. 



1 ................ 60.1 26.5 13.8 



2 .............. 24.9 18.6 11.5 



3 ............... 19.1 15.7 10.2 



4 ........... .... 17.3 14.9 12.2 



5 ................ 12.3 14.8 12.1 



6 ................ 13.3 12.8 12.6 



7 ................ 12.5 12.9 11.3 



8.... ............ 10.1 12.1 10.7 



Other conditions, such as varying amounts of fat in the body f 

 have an influence on the rapidity with which the nitrogen is 

 eliminated during the first days of starvation. After the first few 

 days the elimination of nitrogen, as is seen in the above table, is 

 more uniform, and as the starvation proceeds it decreases as a rule 

 very slowly and uniformly. Cases also occur in which the elimina- 

 tion of nitrogen becomes constant in these stages, and in which 

 indeed the elimination of nitrogen increases towards the end. 

 This so-called premortal increase always occurs as soon as the 

 adipose tissue in the body has sunk to a certain point, and it also 

 depends on the fact that as soon as the fat is consumed a corre- 

 sponding increase in the decomposition of proteids is necessary for 

 the generation of heat as well as of other forces. 



If fat occurs in the body besides proteids, it is also decomposed 

 in starvation. Since fat has a diminishing influence on the de- 

 struction of proteids (see further on), the elimination of nitrogen in 

 starvation is less in fat than in lean individuals. For instance, 

 only 9 grms. of urea were voided in twenty-four hours during the 

 later stages of starvation by a well-nourished and fat person suffer- 

 ing from disease of the brain, while J. MUNK found that 20-29 

 grms. urea were voided daily by CETTI, who had been poorly fed. 



Like the destruction of proteids during starvation, the decom- 

 position of fat proceeds uninterruptedly. The decomposition of 

 fat does not show so great and rapid a decrease in the first days of 



