COMPARATIVE STUDY OF FREEZING INJURY IN A HIBERNATOR AND A NONHIBERNATOR,
Abstract
An attempt was made to ascertain whether the ability of the hamster to escape freezing injury may be related to its ability to hibernate. The feet of hamsters, in the nonhibernating state, and of albino rats were cooled at ambient temperatures of -10, -8, -6 and -4C; seeded when the center of the paw had reached a given below-freezing tempera ture; and maintained in the frozen state for various lengths of time. It was found that while the course of temperature during cooling and freezing and the general appearance of the limb in the frozen state did not differ significantly in the two animals, the subsequent manifestations of injury and the extent of recovery did. The amount of swelling was considerably more in rats than in hamsters. Hamsters' paws frozen for 20 minutes at -10C recovered in two or three days; rats' paws treated in the same way required five to seven days for recovery. Hamster limbs that had been kept for one hour in the frozen state at -10C recovered completely (in about 10 days), while rat limbs similarly frozen showed necrosis after three days and eventually lost all their toes and part of the paw. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0610388
Entities
People
- B. J. Luyet
- R. J. Williams