Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XVII. Metabolism - II. Metabolism in Starvation and with Insufficient Nutrition
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
896 METABOLISM.
Munk observed, in Cetti’s case, an increase in the elimination of
phosphoric acid in relation to the iV-elimination, which indicates an
increased decomposition of bone-substance, and this explanation is
supported by the fact that a simultaneous increase in the elimination of
lime and magnesia occurs. Recently Wellmann * showed that in rabbits,
the increase in the elimination of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium
in starvation corresponds to the loss in the bones of these constituents.
The question as to the participation of the different organs in the loss
of weight of the body during starvation is of special interest. In elucida-
tion of this point we give the following results of Chossat’s experiments
on pigeons, and those of Voit 2
on a male cat. The results are percentages
of weight lost from the original weight of the organ.
Pigeon (Chossat).
Adipose tissue 93 per cent.
Spleen 71
Pancreas 64
Liver 52
Heart 45
Intestine 42
Muscles 42
Testicles —
Skin 33
Kidneys 32
Lungs 22
Bones 17
Nervous system 2
Male Cat (Voit).
97 per cent.
67
17
54
3
18
31
40
21
26
18
4
3
The total quantity of blood, as well as the quantity of solids contained
therein, decreases, as Panum and others 3
have shown, in the same pro-
portion as the weight of the body. Concerning the loss of water by
different organs authorities disagree, Lukjanow 4
claiming that the
various organs differ from each other in this respect.
The above-tabulated results cannot serve as a measure of the metabol-
ism in the various organs during starvation. For instance, the nervous
system shows only a small loss of weight as compared with the other
organs, but from this it must not be concluded that the exchange of
material in this system of organs is least active. The conditions may be
quite different; for one organ may derive its nutriment during starva-
tion from some other organ and exist at its expense. A positive con-
clusion cannot be drawn in regard to the activity of the metabolism in
an organ from the loss of weight of that organ in starvation. Death
by starvation is not the result of the death of all the organs of the body,
1
Munk, Berl. klin. Wbchenschr., 1887; Wellmann, Pfliiger’s Arch., 121.
2
Cited from Voit in Hermann’s Handbwh, fi. Part I, 96 and 97.
5
Panum, Virchow’s Arch., 29; London, Arch. d. scienc. biol. de St. P£tersbourg, 4..
• Zeitechr. f. physiol. Chem., 13.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
