Nutrition. 231 



the food given be insufficient or sufficient, the loss in 

 condition amongst the horses sets in early, and is extremely 

 marked for some time before the men show any appreciable 

 muscular waste. 



One explanation offered as to the reason why herbivora 

 withstand starvation so badly is that they possess less 

 circulating albumin and less tissue albumin. A full-grown 

 ox during starvation has been known to use up only 

 2f lbs. of proteid per diem, whilst, judging from carnivora, 

 at least double this amount should have been destroyed 

 (Meade Smith). 



Horses have been known to live without food or water 

 for as long as three weeks ; but it is said that if they have 

 suffered 15 days' starvation, the administration of food 

 after this time will not save them. 



Colin records an experiment where a horse weighing 

 892*6 lbs. was starved for 30 days, only being allowed 

 2-46 pints of water per diem. He was nourished on his 

 own tissues, the daily loss in weight being 5-865 lbs., con- 

 sisting of: ozs> 



Carbon - - 27-771 . 



Hydrogen - - 4-083 



Nitrogen - 2 '647 



Salts - - - -745 



which may be taken as representing the daily waste during 

 starvation. 



When this animal died, the body weight was 715 lbs., 

 and it was found that of all the organs the kidneys had 

 suffered the greatest loss, 41*6 per cent, of their weight: 

 next the lungs, 38 per cent. ; the stomach and intestines 

 (empty), 35 per cent. ; the skeleton, 26 per cent. ; skin and 

 hoofs, 21 per cent. ; muscles, 196 per cent. ; heart, 17 8 per 

 cent. ; pancreas, 17 per cent. ; spleen, 16 per cent. ; liver, 

 12 per cent. ; brain and spinal cord, 2*3 per cent. 



It is most remarkable that the muscles should have 

 suffered so little. It was found that the amount of fat 

 after 30 days' starvation was actually greater than that 

 found in a healthy control animal of equal weight destroyed 



