456 PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. 



of proteids in starvation, so also it diminishes the disintegration of 

 the proteids taken with the food. 



PETTENKOFER and VOIT have made investigations on the metab- 

 olism of fat with an exclusively albuminous diet. These investi- 

 gations have shown that by increasing the quantity of proteids in 

 the food the daily metabolism of fat decreases, so that indeed a 

 formation of fat from proteids, or more correctly an excess of car- 

 bon in the food as compared to the excretions, is produced, and 

 this excess is considered as indicating a formation of fat from pro- 

 teids. To illustrate this the following series of experiments were 

 made on dogs, which were fed during seven different periods with 

 increasing quantities of meat. Here as well as in the following 

 pages the signs + and represent an increase or a loss of the sub- 

 stances under consideration. 



TABLE V. 



Flesh Flesh Fat 



Given. Decomposed. on the Body. 



165 - 165 - 95 



500 599 - 99 -47 



1000 1079 - 79 - 19 



1500 1500 .... +4 



1800 1757 -f-43 -f 1 



2000 2044 - 44 +58 



2500 2512 - 12 +57 



In these cases, according to the generally-received opinion, a 

 formation of fat from proteids has taken place, even though it is 

 small as compared to the quantity of decomposed proteid. In this 

 formation of fat the proteids of the organism split into a nitrogen- 

 ized part which ultimately yields urea, uric acid, etc., and a non- 

 nitrogenized part which passes into fat or fat-forming substances. 

 This non-nitrogenized part first diminishes the metabolism of fat 

 and then, when it is formed in greater quantities, it is stored up as 

 adipose tissue. 



The accumulation of fat in the body is therefore only small 

 with an exclusively meat diet. The same is true also of the storing 

 up of proteids, which decreases from day to day and which only 

 lasts for a short time, because nitrogenous equilibrium soon occurs. 

 This is also the reason why with an exclusively meat diet a well- 



