466 



Messrs. Ellis and Gardner. Origin and 



[Nov. 8, 



Cholesterol Content of the Livers of Rabbits during Inanition. 



If the hypothesis put forward at the beginning of this paper is correct, we 

 should expect that, during inanition, when an animal is living on its own 

 tissues and the ordinary processes of digestion are in abeyance, an accumula- 

 tion of cholesterol would take place in the liver. In order to test this, two 

 rabbits, which had been long in stock and well fed, were selected. One was 

 a fat animal, and the other a thin one, which, though well fed, showed little 

 tendency to lay on fat. 



Experiment IX. — This animal (I), at the beginning of the experiment, was 

 fat, and weighed 3 kgrm. It was fed for three days on extracted bran, 

 after which it was kept without food from October 28 to November 3, 1910, 

 but was allowed water ad lib. It steadily decreased in weight : 2-9, 2*8, 2-65, 

 2 - 6, 2 - 5, 2 - 45 kgrm., and at the end of the period was apparently in good 

 health. It appeared to suffer no inconvenience. It passed no faeces during 

 the inanition period. After it had been killed, it was found that there was 

 still some fat round the kidney and in other parts. The stomach and 

 intestines contained a dark semi-fluid material, and the stomach was full of 

 wind. Some fseces were found in the rectum. The gall bladder was 

 distended. The loss in weight was 18 per cent. The liver was normal in 

 appearance and weighed 43 - 01 grm., i.e., 1*75 per cent, of the body weight. 

 The total cholesterol, free and combined, was 0'3406 grm., and the free 

 cholesterol 0"1831 grm. The ester cholesterol, by difference, was thus 

 01575 grm. 



Experiment X. — This animal (J) was vigorous but thin, and at the 

 commencement of the experiment weighed 1*9 kgrm. It was fed for three 

 days on extracted bran, after which it was kept without food from 

 November 11 to 17, 1910, but allowed plenty of water. It lost weight 

 steadily, the weights being l - 8, 1*7, 1"6, 1*55, 1*45, T4, a percentage loss of 

 26-2. The animal suffered no obvious inconvenience during the fast. It 

 was killed on November 17. The stomach contained a dark semi-fluid 

 matter, and there were some faeces in the rectum. No fat was noticed 

 round the organs. The animal passed no faeces during inanition. Unfortu- 

 nately, the dark matter in the stomach and intestines was not analysed. 

 The liver was normal in appearance and weighed 32-87 grm., i.e., 2'35 per cent, 

 of the body weight. The total cholesterol, free and combined, was 

 0-1234 grm., the free cholesterol 0*1123, and the ester cholesterol, by 

 difference, O'Olll grm. 



