482 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLVII 



strengthens our conclusion that frequently repeated 

 starvation affects unfavorably the vitality of the organ- 

 ism. The conclusion concurs with that of Kahan, 3 who 

 subjected pigeons two or three times to hunger, feeding 

 them very abundantly in the periods between, and found 

 that their power of resistance declines with each new 

 experience of starvation. 



Der nach vorlici^c-anaviicni Hungern bei unbesohriinkter Nahrungs- 

 aufnahme aufgefutterte Organismus zeigt die Folgen der friiheren 

 Xahrungsentzieliung, . . . und bei wiederbolter Xahnm-MMitxiclmim 

 raseher verfallt, als der gesunde (p. 277). 



Seland 4 experimenting with chickens got quite different 

 results. He allowed his birds to reach a state of equi- 

 librium in body weight, when food was withdrawn for 

 periods of one to two days, and then they were again fed. 

 He discovered that the periodically fasting birds grew 

 heavier than the control, although they were actually 

 getting less food. According to von Seland, the increase 

 is not caused by a deposit of fat, but by an accumulation 

 of albuminous material, and the periodic fasting has the 

 effect of making the body heavier, stronger and more 

 solid. Von Seland 's assertion, however, regarding the in- 

 crease in quantity of t ho albuminous substances lacks the 

 proof of chemical analysis. 



We saw in the foregoing that after a period of pro- 

 tracted starvation, when about one fourth of the body 

 weight has been lost, growth is very intense and the per 

 cent, of the consumed food which becomes converted into 

 the substance of the organism is nearly three times as 

 large as in the continually fed salamanders. The im- 

 pulse to grow determines the degree of utilization of the 

 nutriment, the rate of growth being regulated by the par- 

 ticular state of the cells of the organism, which in turn is 

 probably occasioned by the relation of the nucleus to the 



•Kahan, J. A., "Mit Auffiitterung abwechselnde akute experimentelle 

 Inanition," St.-Petersburger med. Wochenschr., Nr. 30, 275-277, 1886. 



4 V. Seland, "Ueber die Nachwirkung der Nahrungsentziehung auf die 

 Eraahrung," Biol. Centralbl, Bd. 7, 145-158, 184-192, 214-224, 246-256, 

 271-281, 1887. 



