Morgulis, The effect of inanition and a return to normal diet etc. 637 



than double the normal after 125 days of inanition. The percent 

 of water, on the contrary, having once risen by about one and 

 one-half percent, remains unchanged throughout the whole period 

 of inanition. It seems, therefrom, that the withdrawal of food 

 induces a new state of equilibrium between the dry substance 

 and the water of the organism, which in my experiments has 

 been maintained stable ior 125 days. Whether this equilibrium 

 is again upset at still later stages of inanition, when degeneration 

 sets in, ultimately leading the animal to death, is one of the Pro- 

 blems which must be solved by further experimentation. 



One thing, however, is certain, viz. that the percentage in- 

 crease of water is occasioned by starvation, and is not, as Do- 

 n a 1 d s o n (1901) found in the case of frogs at certain seasons 

 of the year, due to absorption of water from the surroundings. 

 The contention is borne out by the following facts: first, that 

 well fed animals kept under exactly similar conditions and for 

 the same length of time have shown a normal, low percent of 

 water; second, that the absolute quantity of water in the orga- 

 nism is constantly decreasing, though not as rapidly as the quan- 

 tity of dry substance. It is plausible that the oxidation of the 

 hydrogen of the rapidly used up organic matter may be partially 

 accountable for the rise of the percent of water in the tissues. 



To summarize in a few words the results of the experiments 

 on the influence of inanition: the organic substance is being used 

 up at a higher rate than the rest of the organism; water is lost 

 almost proportionately to the general loss in weight of the 

 starved animal, but the percent of water is slightly increased; the 

 new T equilibrium thus established between dry substance and water 

 is maintained in the organism for 125 days of inanition; finally, 

 the quantity of inorganic substance remains probably undimi- 

 nished in animals under starvation, the percent of ash, however, 

 increasing rapidly. 



Upon a return to normal diet practically all constituents of 

 the body increase quantitatively, but at somewhat different rates. 

 Thus, the weight of the body having increased 43.9 p. c, the 

 amount of dry substance increased only 25 p. c, while the amount 

 of water increased 49.8 p. c, or, stated differently, the dry sub- 

 stance of the organism increased by one-fourth of its original 

 quantity and the water by one-half its volume. The quantity 

 of inorganic substance was somewhat less than the computed 

 quantity, yet since the difference was less than the probable 

 error, the quantity of this element in all probability has not been 

 noticeably affected. The absolute amount of organic substance, 

 on the contrary, increased 39.2 p. c. It is thus evident that 

 whereas inanition caused a relatively greater loss of dry sub- 

 stance than of water, the effect of resumed feeding was to increase 

 the water content more relatively than the dry substance. 



