THE METABOLISM DURING STARVATION 625 



sleep or semi-stupor. In the case of Succi, who fasted for thirty days, 

 considerable muscular exertion was undertaken on the twelfth and on the 

 twenty- third day of starvation without any appreciable ill- effects. A strong 

 effort of the will must have been necessary in his case to overcome the auto- 

 matic instinct to preservation of life by the utmost economy in the expendi- 

 ture of energy. The pulse-rate and the body temperature remain nearly 

 normal until a few days before death, which is ushered in by an increase in 

 the somnolent condition of the animal, and by a gradual slowing of respiration 

 and fall of temperature. The urine is naturally diminished with diminution 

 in the output of urea and in the amount of water consumed. Some faeces 

 are formed, and may be voided during or at the close of the starvation 

 period. In Succi their amount varied from 9-5 to 22 grm. a day and 

 contained from 0-3 to 1-0 grm. nitrogen. On microscopic examination 

 they consisted of an amorphous material enclosing a number of crystals of 

 fatty acids. 



During the whole of the starvation period energy is being used up in the 

 body for the maintenance of its temperature and the vital movements of 

 respiration and circulation. Since this energy is derived from the destruction 

 and oxidation of the tissues of the body, it is evident that starvation must 

 be associated with a constant and steady loss of body weight. In experiments 

 on man the daily loss of weight during the first ten days amounts to between 

 1 and 1 -5 per cent, of the original total weight. This loss of weight does not 

 affect all parts of the body alike. It might be imagined that, since the loss 

 of weight is determined by the using up of the tissues of the body for the 

 production of energy, those organs which are most active should show also 

 the greatest loss of weight. The very reverse of this is the case, as will be 

 seen from the following Table : 



PERCENTAGE Loss OF WEIGHT OF DIFFERENT ORGANS AND TISSUES DURING 



STARVATION. ( Vorr. ) 



