CHEMICAL DYNAMICS OF ANIMAL NUTRITION 139 



solids is very high (47*6 and 40*1 respectively). Furthermore, animal 

 No. 17 weighs only 2'6 kilos, whereas the liver weighs 109*2 grams. 

 These figures seem to indicate a very fatty liver, and probably this 

 accounts for the abnormality. The numbers seem to indicate that in 

 the fasting animals autolysis is already taking place, and that the 

 tissue of the liver is degrading in order to supply the energy needs of 

 the organism. 



O 



Here, again, there is no evidence that the products of tryptic 

 digestion directly inhibit autolysis in vivd. 



The Mucous Membrane of the Small Intestine. 



TABLE IV 



No. 



N 100 N 100 



It will be noticed in the above table that the ratio of residual to 

 total nitrogen is a constant, and independent of the state of nutrition 

 of the animal. The concordance of numbers obtained from different 

 animals is so close, that in five out of the six cases the analyses would 

 have been satisfactory if they had referred to a pure homogeneous 

 product. 



Another point of considerable interest is the fact, that the 

 percentage of residual nitrogen is considerably higher than that found 

 in any of the other tissues examined. As the mucous membrane of 

 the small intestine plays an important part in the general nitrogenous 

 metabolism, this point is of great significance, and as will be shown 

 below, the ratio is higher in the carnivora, in which the mucous 

 membrane of the intestine has been examined, than in the herbivora. 

 It appears to be a constant for each species of animal. 



Only a part of this residual nitrogen is eliminated on simple 

 coagulation by boiling the fresh tissue ; if, however, the tissue be 



