266 



Journal of Agricultural Research 



Two guinea pigs, A and B, were tried with this feed. Guinea pig A 

 was off its feed at the time from eating precipitated gossypol spread on 

 corn meal (feed 318). An attempt was made to give it kernels in which 

 the gossypol was not so easily detected, but the animal would not touch 

 them. 



Guinea pig B had eaten feed 316 for 50 days and had gained in weight. 

 After it had been on corn meal and molasses (feed 317) for about a week, 

 it was placed upon feed 290 (7 gm. of kernels with molasses). It ate only 

 4 gm. of the kernels, although other feed was withheld for a day. We 

 concluded from this that even the 4 gm. had affected it physiologically 

 and had made it suspicious of the feed. After a week upon control feed, 

 it ate feed 316 without objection. 



Rabbit 957, which had eaten feed 316 for 46 days without noticeable 

 effect, was rested for three weeks and then fed the residue after petro- 

 leum-ether extraction, which does not remove the gossypol. Its appetite 

 was perceptibly affected on the third day, but it ate most of the feed for 

 6 days. On the ninth day it refused to eat feed 290, but ate green feed 

 slowly. It died on the fourteenth day, showing symptoms of cottonseed- 

 meal poisoning. See Table I. 



Table I. — Results of feeding cottonseed kernels {fat-free; feed 2go) and cottonseed meal 

 to rabbits and guinea pigs 



"The results of Withers and Brewster's experiments (1913) ^"th cottonseed meal are here inserted for 

 omparison. 

 6 Each rabbit consumed from 48 to 225 gm. of cottonseed meal and died upon the feed in from 6 to 22 days. 



TOXICITY OF GOSSYPOL EXTRACT 



It is much simpler to prepare gossypol from cottonseed than from 

 the oil.* Qualitative tests of ground cottonseed showed that gossypol 

 could be extracted with ether, carbon bisulphid, chloroform, benzene, 

 alcohol, but not with petroleum ether or gasoline. By extracting the 



1 This point will be discussed under the chemistry of gossj^pol, which will appear in a subsequent pub- 

 lication. 



