THE VITAMINES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 147 



From New Zealand, there was a report by Aston and Reakes (433) 

 on progressive anemia, known locally as "bush-sickness." It was 

 supposed to be caused by lack of salts, and differed from lamziekte. 

 In addition to these naturally occurring pathological conditions, we 

 have the experience gained by the experimental feeding of cattle. 

 Russel and Morrison (434) found that cattle fed on oats, straw and 

 butter, or casein, butter and oat-straw, gave birth to very miserable 

 looking offspring. This condition was not regarded as an avitam- 

 inosis but as a lack of calcium, since an addition of these salts seemed 

 to improve the condition of the animals. Fleischmann (435) noted 

 that calves fed on hay often became sick, and he proceeded to study 

 the chemical changes attending the drying of the grass. He showed 

 that lecithin and phosphoproteid, as well as protein, underwent 

 some decomposition during the process of drying. However, since 

 the total nitrogen showed no change, we may assume that there was 

 no loss of inorganic constituents. The real difference observed must 

 be looked for in the vitamine content. 



We find a somewhat different conception in the work of Henry 

 (436). In the description of an Australian cattle disease known as 

 "impaction paralysis," resembling lamziekte, he attributes the cause 

 of the disease to the poverty of the soil in calcium and phosphorus. 

 The disease appears at the end of the dry season, in places where the 

 vegetation is injured by the Australian rabbit-plague. The disease 

 was found where there was an abnormal desire to eat bones and 

 where osteomalacia had also prevailed for some time. A favorable 

 effect was noted on adding a nourishing diet, such as skimmed milk. 

 We have already mentioned the interesting assumption of Davis 

 (I.e. 195), who held that in the last analysis the poverty of the soil 

 was the cause of diseases of domestic animals. When the vegetation 

 is so impoverished through extraneous conditions that it no longer 

 provides sufficient calcium and phosphorus for the animals, it is 

 conceivable that other important substances, for example, vitamines, 

 might also be lacking. It must likewise not be forgotten that in the 

 avitaminoses there is frequently a loss of inorganic constituents, 

 and this condition might manifest itself in an abnormal desire for 

 bones or other materials rich in calcium and phosphorus. For 

 example, Forbes (437) stated that domestic animals often display an 

 abnormal craving for mineral substances. Pigs and cattle sometimes 

 eat large quantities of bone meal, with resultant improvement in 



