1909.] Destiny of Cholesterol in the Animal Organism. 509 



The results of these experiments are summarised in the following table :— 



Experiment. 



Total 

 cholesterol 

 taken in 

 food. 



Duration 

 of diet 

 period. 



Total weight 



of un- 

 saponifiable 

 matter. 



Total weight 

 of cholesterol 

 and copro- 

 sterol passed 

 in faeces. 



Deficit. 



Output per 

 cat per day. 





grammes. 





grammes. 



grammes. 



grammes. 





I 



2 7 



14 



2 '554 



1 -397 



1303 



0-098 



II 



2 -56 



14 



3 -02 



1 "077 



1 483 



0-077 



III 



1 -35 



14 



1 331 



-5486 



0-8 



-032 



IV 



3-5 



28 



4-3985 



1 -4004 



2 -099 



0-05 



It is clear from these results that cats behave similarly to dogs when fed 

 on meat diets, but the tendency for the change of cholesterol into coprosterol 

 appears to be greater in the case of cats. 



The total cholesterol of the food should of course be increased by that 

 poured into the gut in the bile during digestion. No data are, however, 

 available for forming any estimate of these quantities. 



In the hope of ascertaining whether the whole or any of the cholesterol of 

 :the bile was excreted in the feces in the case of artifical diets as free as 

 possible from cholesterol or phytosterol, and if so, whether under such 

 conditions any reduction to coprosterol took place, the experiments detailed 

 below were undertaken. We had some difficulty in finding suitable food, as 

 'Cats are dainty animals and will not eat freely of substances that are in the 

 least distasteful to them, and we thought that any attempt to starve an 

 animal into eating any particular food would be likely to vitiate the results. 

 Further, it was necessary that the diet should contain all the constituents 

 required to keep the animal in good condition. 



Ultimately the following diets were selected : — 



(1) 90 grammes of white bread mixed with the white of one egg were 

 mioistened with a dilute solution of Liebig's extract of meat and lightly fried. 

 About 4 grammes of cream were then added. 



(2) About 200 grammes of germ of wheat, which had previously been 

 thoroughly extracted with ether, were mixed with a little Liebig's extract 

 dissolved in hot water to a stiff paste. This was incorporated with about 

 ■30 grammes of suet, and the paste baked for two or three hours in a dish in 

 a hot oven. The suet used was purified as far as possible from cholesterol by 

 dissolving in ether and precipitating with alcohol several times. An analysis 

 showed that this purified fat still contained 0T18 per cent, of cholesterol 

 either free or in the form of esters. 



The animals experimented on partook of these foods readily and appeared 

 -to thrive on them. 



