448 



PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTS T. 



4 grammes of water are set free. A special increase in the demand 

 for water does not seem to occur in starving animals. 



The mineral substances leave the body uninterruptedly in starva- 

 tion until death, and the influence of the destruction of tissues is 

 plainly perceptible by their elimination. Because of the destruction 

 of tissues rich in potassium, the proportion between potassium and 

 sodium in the urine changes in starvation so that, contrary to 

 the normal conditions, the potassium is eliminated in proportion- 

 ally greater quantities. MUNK also observed in CETTI'S case a 

 relative increase in the phosphoric acid and calcium in the urine 

 during starvation, which was due to an increased exchange of bone- 

 substance. 



The question as to the participation of the different organs in 

 the loss of weight of the body during starvation is of special 

 interest. To illustrate this question we will give below the results 

 of CHOSSAT'S experiments on pigeons and those of VOIT on a male 

 cat. The results are percentages of weight lost from the original 

 weight of the organ. 



TABLE III. 



Pigeon (CHOSSAT). Male Cat (VoiT). 



Fat 93 per cent. 97 per cent. 



Spleen 71 67 



Pancreas 64 17 



Liver 52 54 



Heart 45 3 



Intestines 42 18 



Muscles 42 31 



Testicles 40 



Skin 33 21 



Kidneys 32 26 



Lungs 22 ' 18 



Bones 17 ' 14 



Nervous system . . 2 3 



The total quantity of blood, as well as the amount of solids con- 

 tained therein, decreases, as PANUM has shown, in the same pro- 

 portion as the weight of the body. The statements in regard to 

 the loss of water by different organs is somewhat contradictory ; 

 according to LUKJANOW, it seems that the various organs act some- 

 what differently in this respect. 



The above-tabulated results cannot serve as a measure of the 



