61 



EFFECTS OF THIRST, ETC., ON A CUR-DOG. 



1000 parts of blood contained 



Liquor sauguiuis 



Moist blood-corpuscles 402.64 



59^.36 - 



I Water . 

 i Solid constituents 

 (Water . 



i Solid constituents 



301. 9S 

 lOO.GG 

 4()4.G4 

 132.12 



The dog died at eight o'clock A. M., August 11 



Weight when the experiment was commenced 

 Weight after death . . . . 



23} lbs. = 161,326 grains. 

 16J " = 112,055 " 



In 168 hours (6 days and 11 hours) this dog had lost 19,271 grains; one-third 

 to one-fourth of its original weight. Loss of weight during twenty-four hours, 

 7,176 grains. Loss of weight during one hour Slly^^y grains = -j-iy of the weight 

 of its whole body before starvation. During 158 hours of starvation, each pound 

 Avoirdupois (7,000 grains) lost 2,078 grains. 



The liver was tested the next morning for grape sugar, but the tests of Trommer 

 and Moore failed to indicate its presence. 



The substance of this organ, under the microscope, contained innumerable oil- 

 globules of various sizes. All the fat throughout the body appeared to have been 

 completely consumed. The only source of this fat was the nitrogenized elements 

 of the blood and tissues, which were acted upon by the cells of the liver. 



It is stated by physiologists that, after prolonged starvation, the amount of urea 

 formed in the sj'stem is increased. The reason of this is obvious. The fat stored 

 up in various parts of the body is first consumed to sustain animal temperature. 

 As long as it supplies the demands of nature, urea, a product of the metamor- 

 phoses of the nitrogenized elements of the blood and tissues, is found in normal 

 amount. When, however, the fat is consumed, the nitrogenized elements of the 

 blood and tissues are attacked. The carbon unites, ultimately, with oxygen, 

 forming carbonic acid, wliilst the nitrogen is conjoined with oxygen and carbon, 

 and is thrown off as urea. We have, then, in addition to the amount of urea 

 normally formed, that which results from the combustion of the nitrogenized 

 compounds. 



The dense and dry condition of the muscular sj^stem of the dog, showed that the 

 juices of the muscles must have passed into the blood. This results as a necessary 

 consequence of the physical law of endosmosis. 



During starvation and thirst, the blood becomes denser than the surrounding 

 fluids, owing to the evaporation of water which goes on continually in the lungs. 

 The less dense juices of the body necessarily flow into the circulatory system. 

 The object of all endosmotic action is the restoration of an equilibrium, and the 

 rapidity of that action will be determined, in great measure, by the differences of 

 the densities of the exterior and interior solutions. 



It is probable that the death of this dog occurred sooner than should have been 

 anticipated, on account of the heat. During the middle of the da.y, the thermo- 

 meter generally stood as high as 91°. This heated atmosphere promoted evapora- 

 tion of the watery elements of the blood and tissues, both from the surface of the 

 body and lungs. 



