66 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



"The flesh of a thin animal contains more soluble phosphorus than that of a 

 fat animal. 



" The quantity decreases with increasing fatness even when it is expressed 

 on a moisture and fat-free basis." 



On the second study the authors investigated the distribution of phosphorus 

 in the tissues and organs of beef cattle, using 4 young and 4 mature animals. 



The phosphorus content was found to be quite uniform for young animals but 

 so striking an agreement was not found in case of the mature animals. The 

 largest amount of phosphorus, it is stated, was found in the circulatory system 

 and in the nervous system. Two of the mature animals, namely, a cow and a 

 steer, showed abnormally high amounts in the circulatory system. A very thin 

 animal, 3.5 years old, and one of the same age but fairly fat, contained more 

 phosphorus in the nervous system than did the other animals. A Jersey cow, 

 which was the oldest animal examined, showed the highest average amount of 

 phosphorus. 



" So far as the phosphorus in the flesh of the cuts is concerned, it is impos- 

 sible to draw any final conclusion with the amount of data available. . . . The 

 mature cow, however, showed in the flesh cuts a higher phosphorus content 

 than any of the other animals discussed. This can hardly be attributed to 

 condition. Whether it was due to age is a little doubtful [as this animal was 

 only 2 years older than the steer mentioned above as showing abnormally high 

 results in the phosphorus content of the nervous system] . We are more inclined to 

 think that the breed or the high phosphorus diet (bran, etc.) previous to the 

 fattening period may have been influential. 



" The wholesale cuts of the 7 steers show an increasing amount of phos- 

 phorus, compared on the moisture and fat-free basis, in the following order : 

 Flank and plate; shin, shank, head, and tail; rib, chuck, and neck; loin; round; 

 rump. In other words, those cuts thin in character and which have the largest 

 amount of connective tissue contain the smallest amount of phosphorus." 



According to the authors, it was remarkable that one of the steers which was 

 very thin showed a higher percentage of ash in every cut than any of the other 

 animals, though the cuts were comparatively low in phosphorus. Another steer, 

 also thin, contained somewhat less ash but higher amounts than the other ani- 

 mals. One of the steers, which had been well fed and was in excellent condi- 

 tion, gave comparatively low values for ash. " It is to be noted that there 

 seems to be no relation between the phosphorus and the ash. An explanation 

 of the fact can not be attempted until the analyses of the various samples of 

 ash are completed." 



The cause and prevention of beri-beri, W. L. Braddon (London and New 

 York, 1907, i)p. XIII+54'i, chart 1). — In this monograph of the subject the au- 

 thor has summarized and discussed a very large amount of data regarding 

 beriberi and its occurrence, the relation of this disease to food, particularly rice, 

 the occurrence of beriberi in animals (horses, monkeys, and fowls), the preven- 

 tion of beriberi, and similar topics. 



His general conclusion is that stale decorticated white rice at times contains 

 a poison, the effect of which is to produce beriberi. 



" The agent which produces the poison in rice is specific of, or peculiar to, 

 that grain. . . . The beriberi poison is not preformed (or not present in quan- 

 tity sufficient to cause symptoms) in normal fresh rice seeds, but is adven- 

 titious. . . . The pericarp of rice, like the seeds when fresh, contains little or 

 no poison. . . . The formation of poison in stale rice is due to the action of a 

 specific agent upon the dead seeds. . . . The poison of stale rice has an antece- 

 dent in fresh rice. The agent must be, therefore, some ferment or parasite or 



