NUTRITION AND GROWTH: I. 31 



Experiment II illustrates this point better. Here again we see that 

 the protein of the organs is not diminished, and for both animals we 

 obtain values corresponding as closely as could be expected. The protein 

 of the muscles is reduced in dog VI to one-half the amount which we 

 assume was present at the beginning of the experiment. The fat is 

 reduced to a small remainder, and has disappeared almost entirely from 

 the bones. The protein in the bones is considerably higher than in all 

 probability it was at the beginning of the experiment. This is not 

 surprising when we recall that the skeleton grew at almost the nonnal rate. 



All the experiments show that the fat of the body suffered the gi-eatest 

 loss. The greatest loss of fat was from the flesh and bone marrow. It 

 was less severe in the organs. 



The loss in body protein is large in the dogs kept at a constant weight, 

 but not so great as the loss of fat. However, we must recall that the 

 protein of the bones, the ossein, was not decreased, but actiially increased. 

 The organs, even of the animal dying of inanition, suffer no loss in 

 protein. 



There was a considerable loss of muscle protein in the animals kept 

 at constant weight. For instance, the muscle protein in dog II amounted 

 to only 5.4 per cent of the live weight, as compared with 10.7 per cent 

 for the normal animal V. However, it is remarkable that not all the 

 muscle protein which disappeared was lost from the body, for a portion 

 reappeared in the form of bone protein. Therefore, the loss of total 

 body protein is smaller than that of muscle protein alone. 



Another question of gTeat importance is whether or not the loss in fat 

 and protein from the body and from the organs is fully compensated 

 for by a corresponding increase in the bones. The mass of the bones, 

 as just mentioned, increased considerably, but the quantity of newly 

 formed bone-tissue is by no means sufficient to cover the entire loss in fat 

 and protein. There must be something else in the body which has in- 

 creased, for only if such an increase has taken place can we explain why 

 the body weight, in spite of the tremendous decrease in flesh, has not 

 diminished. 



It is more than probable that water, the relative quantity of which 

 has increased, is this constituent. A glance at the following diagram 

 shows plainly that the water content of all parts of the body of dog 

 VI is considerably greater than that of dog V, and also greater than 

 that which we would regard as the normal water content. We can term 

 the condition prevailing in dog VI one of general hydration (Verwas- 

 serung) . 



This increase in water content is not the same for all parts of the 

 body. The greatest reduction in the amount of solids is found in 

 the blood (estimated on the basis of the protein content). The blood 



