EFFECTS OF LIGHT ON NORMAL RABBITS, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE ORGANIC REACTION : III. ANALYSIS OF ORGAN WEIGHTS

An analysis has been made of the organ weights of normal rabbits exposed to a constant illumination having none of the shorter ultraviolet rays and of other rabbits kept in darkness for periods of 2 to 12 weeks. The environment of constant illumination was associated with a well marked decrease in the relative weights of most organs, and in certain instances this occurred when the organ weights of the controls were becoming increasingly large. There was also an associated effect of stabilization of organ weight. The majority of the organs of rabbits caged in constant darkness also showed a tendency toward decreased and stabilized weights, but these effects were less pronounced than in the rabbits caged under conditions of constant illumination. A notable exception to this general result was the weight of the liver which was markedly increased. The results of this experiment support the conception that there is a relationship between light and the physical state of the animal organism which may be expressed in the concrete form implied by the trend or direction of organ weight.