a solution containing -0329% CaCl,, .015% MgC1, -7% NaC1, and .0350% KC], was substituted for the distilled water used in the control periods.

All recent studies on the salt balance in adrenal insufficiency, both in the experimental animal and in Addison's disease, have shown that during this state sodium and chlorine are lost from the body (1,2,3,4,5). Regarding the potassium balance a difference of opinion has been expressed. Some observers have stressed a retention of potassium (3 ,4), while our studies (5) demonstrated a loss of this salt. A possible explanation of this discrepancy may be found in the fact that the potassium balance is dependent to a great extent upon the food and water consumption during adrenal insufficiency, and that our rats show signs of anorexia earlier than is seen in the larger animals used by other workers. The present study was undertaken to demonstrate the effect of changes in the food consumption on the electrolytes and nitrogen balances of adrenalectomized rats.Anorexia is an early symptom of insufficiency in the adrenalectomized rat. On the first day that sodium was added to the diet of the animals in adrenal insufficiency, the food intake returned to its original level, making it impossible to determine how much of the improvement in the salt balance was due to the added sodium and how much was due to the increased food consumption. For this reason it was found necessary, in an effort to evaluate the dietary factor, to conduct on normal nonadrenalectomized rats an experiment to show the influence on the salt and nitrogen balances of similar degrees of food restriction. PROCEDURESThe animals used in these experiments were young white rats of the Wistar strain with an average weight of approximately 75 to 150 grams at the onset of the study. Bilateral adrenalectomy was done in one stage. The operations were performed under light ether anesthesia, the