PHYSIOLOGY: S. HATAI 
23 
All these observations are interpreted as indicating that in the structures 
in which the cellular elements are abundant, the nitrogen content tends 
to be high. (4) The ash content, like the water content, is probably 
the same not only in the Cassiopea as a whole, but also in each of the 
three parts throughout the life cycle. The next step was to determine 
the changes in Cassiopea as the result of starvation. 
Mayer ('14) reported {Carnegie Inst. PubL, No. 183, pp. 55-84) 
that in Cassiopea the percentage of nitrogen to the total solids remains 
constant during the entire period of starvation. Mayer infers from 
this that ^'no appreciable chemical change occurs in the composition 
of its body, and that there is no appreciable selective use of different 
substances at different times during the progress of starvation." This 
is remarkable since the starving mammalian body reveals a totally 
different relation owing to the rapid disappearance of reserve substances 
such as carbohydrates and fats during the earlier period of starvation, 
followed by a slow consumption of protein substances later. Thus the 
starving mammalian body gives different percentage values for the 
nitrogen at different periods of starvation, especially in the earlier stages. 
At present my observations are limited to the composition of the 
Cassiopeas at the end of the starvation experiment, while I reserve 
the question of progressive changes during the stages of inanition for 
the future. 
For this purpose eight freshly caught normal Cassiopeas, having 
different body weights, were subjected to starvation. The starvation 
was accomplished by placing the animal in filtered sea water. The 
filtration was made with all the precautions adopted by Mayer ('14) 
and the water (4500 cc.) in the vessel was changed once every day. 
Briefly summarized the results of the observations made on the starved 
Cassiopea are as follows: 
1. In general the smaller Cassiopea loses relatively more in weight than 
does the larger Cassiopea. 
2. The percentage of water found in the entire body, as well as in the three 
different parts is nearly the same in all sizes of Cassiopea. However the 
values of water content in the starved, appears to be slightly higher than 
that found in the normal Cassiopea. 
3. The nitrogen content of the entire body is higher in the smaller than 
in the larger Cassiopea, as in the case of the normal animals. 
4. However the absolute amount of nitrogen found in the starved Cassiopea 
is considerably higher than in the normal having the same body weight. 
It was noted also that although high when compared with the normal, equal 
in weight to the starved animal, it is very low for the initial body weight of 
