METABOLISM DURING STARVATION 



671 



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 destruc- 

 tion and oxidation of the tissues of the body, there must be a 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.) 



Those organs of the body which are most necessary for the maintenance 

 of life, the brain, the* heart, the respiratory muscles, such as the diaphragm, 

 undergo very little loss of weight. Of the other tissues the fat, which is a 

 mere reserve to prov'de for such contingencies, is drawn upon first, and- 

 during starvation 97 per cent, of the total fat of the body may be consumed. 

 The nitrogen needs of the body during starvation seem to be supplied chiefly 

 at the expense of the muscles and glands, which waste to a very marked 

 degree. The muscles being used simply as reserve material, it is easy to 

 understand the condition of lethargy and muscular inactivity which charac- 



