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W. McKIM MARRIOTT 



depletion of the reserve fuel depots of the body whenever the intake of 

 food is diminished or cut off, and serious destruction of body tissue may 

 be the ultimate result. 



The demands made upon the organ systems of the infant are great even 

 when these systems are normal, but when there is a functional deficiency 

 in any of the organ systems the course of metabolism is necessarily ab- 

 normal. 



Disturbances of the metabolism occur when there is (1) a food in- 

 take which is greater than the capacity of the body to utilize the food, or, 

 (2) a food intake insufficient for the requirements of the body, or, (3) 

 a diminished functional capacity of the organs or organ systems con- 

 cerned with metabolism. 



Disturbances of the Metabolism Due to an Excessive 



Intake of Food 



When a complete and properly balanced food is administered to a 

 normal infant in an amount sufficient to cover only the basal requirements, 

 the weight of the infant remains practically constant, individual organs 

 or portions of the body may grow at the expense of other portions but 



there is no increase in 

 weight of the body as a 

 whole. When the food 

 intake is increased above 

 this minimum basal re- 

 quirement, the body 

 weight increases and th 

 rate of increase is greater 

 the greater the intake of 

 food but only up to a 

 certain point. Beyond 

 this point the weight 

 again becomes stationary, 

 and if the feeding of an 

 excess of even a well- 

 balanced food is con- 

 tinued the weight of the 

 infant declines rapidly and grave symptoms make their appearance. This 

 relationship between food intake and the weight curve is very well illus- 

 trated in the accompanying diagram of von Pirquet(a) (Figure 1). 



The symptoms which occur coincident with variations in the weight 

 curve are, to a considerable extent, dependent upon the character of the 

 food which has been administered in excess. A number of clinical types 



Fig. i. 



