THE KINETICS OF STARVATION

1. The relative weight loss of pigeons on starving rations may be represented by a simple modification of the law of autocatalysis. 2. An equation giving the actual weight of the animals during the 53 day period of the experiment is derived by means of the hypothesis that the process of inanition is governed by the simultaneous velocity relations between two independent, homogeneous systems, such that M(T) = (A (0) → 0) + (B (0) → B(C)) in which A is taken proportional to the amount of carbohydrate-fat reserves, and B proportional to the amount of reacting body protoplasm. 3. The course of starvation is governed by the rate of destruction of body protein, but it is modified by the amount and by the rate of destruction of reserve materials. 4. The processes of breaking down tissues are analogous to those by which tissues are synthesized. 5. The close agreement between observed and calculated values suggests that the original assumptions set forth in deriving the foregoing equations were valid. 6. Attention is called to the fact that the time of onset of beriberi in pigeons is coincident with the half period of starvation.