STUDIES ON TISSUES OF FASTING ANIMALS. 4OI 



and free of granules. Here and there cells are found which have 

 no nuclei. But when present the nuclei are relatively large and 

 round, frequently bulging out into the lumen owing to the diminu- 

 tion of the cubical cells. 



Before concluding this description of the changes which were 

 observed in the tissues of fasting animals, a few words may be 

 said concerning the condition of the testes and ovaries. In the 

 former we failed to find any dividing cells. The nuclei were of 

 the characteristic large round shape, whose chromatic content was 

 intensely stained. It is noteworthy that in a very large proportion 

 of the tubules the chromatic substance of all the nuclei was 

 massed together to one side, as in the case of synizesis. It is 

 hardly possible that this should be due to an artifact, as the 

 nuclear condition varied in different tubules, but the former was 

 found in most of them. The ovary which was examined seemed 

 normal in every respect with numerous eggs in all stages of 

 growth. We examined a number of fully developed eggs which 

 were perfectly normal in every detail of their structure. 



Bearing in mind that in inanition the organism is obliged to 

 draw upon its own resources to derive the energy necessary for 

 its maintenance, the metaplasmic material stored up in its cells 

 and the depots of fat are first to yield their quota to this stringent 

 need. With the prolongation of the fast, as these reserve ma- 

 terials become reduced In quantity and at last disappear alto- 

 gether, the substance of the cell body proper must contribute 

 to the organism's demand for nourishment. It is now a well- 

 established fact that various organs and tissues share unevenly 

 In the support of the starving organism. As would be expected 

 a priori, those elements of the organism the integrity of which Is 

 indispensable to its continued existence resist the pressure of the 

 unfavorable conditions longest. This is true not only for the 

 different systems of organs, but also for the rhinutest element of 

 the organism, the cell, where the nucleus is usually the last part 

 to fall prey to the exhausting effect of the fast. The nervous 

 system likewise maintains its weight practically at a constant 

 level as well as it preserves its morphological integrity until a 

 very advanced stage in the fast. 



Degenerative changes do not, as a rule, occur in any of the 



