The two most noticeable conditions observable at autopsy are hemorrhage and fragility of the bones. The stomach, intestines and cecum may show congestion, hemorrhage or ulceration, but according to Cohen and Mendel these organs may in some cases be normal in appearance. These pathological conditions are usually observed in animals fed oats and water or oats and milk, and less frequently in those fed the diet of Cohen and Mendel. These authors point out that an ever present condition in advanced scurvy is lack of appetite for food. They found the food intake to diminish as the disease advances, but that fasting does not produce the characteristic lesions of scurvy. These observations have been confirmed by Lewis and Kerr (26).

A remarkable observation made by Mendel and Cohen is that the swollen joints and tenderness often appear while the animals are still growing rapidly and enjoying a good appetite. Inanition can, therefore, play but a minor role, if any, in the production of the more prominent symptoms of scurvy. There seems to be regularly a period of ten days or so of fasting previous to the death of the animals which are confined to the scorbutic diet of soy beans or cereals, for the loss in weight during this period corresponds to the rate noticed in guinea pigs during starvation.