141 Seekles: Trace Elements in Pastures and Animals 



copper per kg of liver, dry matter basis. The data concerning diseased 

 animals are followed by data relating to normal animals. 



In normal man (6 cases examined), we found copper values of the liver 

 ranging from 31.6-87.0. In 10 normal white rats, the figures ranged 

 from 13.6-55.0, in 10 normal guinea pigs, from 59.4—183, and in 3 

 normal dogs, from 58.0-156. The range of variation, in all cases, is 

 approximately the same as previously found in horses. It appears that the 

 copper metabolism in man and these animals is better regulated than in 

 cattle. It is interesting to note, in this connection, that the syndrome of 

 real or conditioned copper deficiency, which often occurs in ruminants, 

 has not been recorded in man nor in the animals we have studied. 



In a sheep, which had died from the intake of a mixture of copper 

 sulphate and lime, used as a spray for plants, we found a copper content 

 of the liver of 1536 mg, about four times as much as the maximum copper 

 value hitherto determined in our laboratory in the livers of normal sheep. 



Significantly lower copper values were found in ten livers of pregnant 

 horses (13.6-21.2), but 33 surgical cases (mainly lame horses) showed 

 again higher copper values (14.0 — 28.8). We also examined 77 sick 

 horses, classified, after post mortem examination, into a number of groups. 

 They showed a greater range of variation than normal horses. It was not 

 too easy to classify the diseased animals, and the classification followed may 

 seem rather arbitrary — we had to make a selection based on the relative 

 importance of the disorders found. Occasionally cases had to be included 

 in several groups. 



Significandy higher copper values of the liver have been recorded in 

 sick horses; for gastro-intestinal disorders, 14 cases (13.2-43.4); for infec- 

 tious diseases, 21 cases (11.2 — 38.2), and for disorders of the lungs, 11 

 cases (14.2 — 26.8). The first two ranges of variation are different from 

 what might have been expected as a result of our observations in catde 

 suffering from gastro-intestinal troubles and infectious diseases. The cause 

 of these differences is not known. 



We classified 167 cases of sick catde, examined in a similar way, as the 

 sick horses. The range of variation is very considerable amongst cattle 

 suffering from infectious diseases and particularly in catde suffering from 

 tuberculosis. 



Animals, which showed morbid processes localized in the liver, were 

 found to have much less copper in the liver: 5.2—154, in 59 cases 

 examined. In gastro-intestinal disorders (14 cases): 5.0 — 37.8; in infec- 

 tious diseases (114 cases): 5.0 — 516, and among these cases a group of 

 49 animals suffering from tuberculosis: 4.8 — 516. 



The lowest copper content of the liver ever determined in our laboratory 

 (3.6) was found in a two year old cow that had been killed because it was 

 suffering from eczema solare. This unusually low content is approximately 

 the same as found in the liver of catde suffering from "falling disease" in 

 Western Australia as described by H. W. Bennetts. 



