EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



Vol. XXXII. May, 1915. No. 7. 



A notable publication has been issued from the Ohio Experiment 

 Station which on account of an attitude it represents is worthy of 

 special comment. It is entitled A Review of the Literature of Phos- 

 phorus Compounds in Animal Metabolism, and is the work of Dr. 

 I']. B. Forbes and ]\Iiss j\I. Helen Keith. It is a highly important con- 

 tribution to our literature of agricultural investigation, and one which 

 not only the authors and the station issuing it but the American 

 system of stations may well be proud of. The lesson it carries in the 

 preparation for research has wide application. 



Soon after Dr. Forbes went to the Ohio Experiment Station eight 

 years ago, he began a series of investigations into the relations of 

 mineral constituents in animal nutrition. Although these studies are 

 of quite technical character and do not insure direct practical results 

 at once, he has been supported in his undertaking and has gradually 

 secured facilities for the work which are hardly equaled anywhere. 



The broad interest of agricultural science in the whole question of 

 the mineral elements lies, as Dr. Forbes explains, " in that larger in- 

 termediary metabolism between the soil and the sea which begins with 

 the weathering of the rocks, includes the whole of plant and animal 

 metabolism, and ends with the formation of new rocks." 



In its relation to animal life, phosphorus stands out as an unusually 

 conspicuous member of this group. No other inorganic element 

 enters into such a diversity of compounds and plays as important a 

 part in so many functions. " Structurally, it is important as a con- 

 stituent of every cell nucleus and so of all cellular structures; it is 

 also prominent in the skeleton, in milk, in sexual elements, glandular 

 tissue, and the nervous system. Functionally, it is involved in all 

 cell multiplication, in the activation and control of enzym actions, in 

 the maintenance of neutrality in the organism, in the conduct of 

 nerve stimuli, and through its relation to osmotic pressure, surface 

 tension, and imbibition of water bj^ colloids it has to do with the 

 movement of liquids, with the maintenance of proper liquid contents 

 of the tissues, with cell movements, and with absorption and secre- 

 tion." 



The study of the mineral elements in relation to nutrition is a sub- 

 ject but recently taken up by our stations, and the large measure of 

 the world investigation bestowed upon it has been reported since the 



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