21 



since the presence of a thiamine destructive substance in raw starfish had pre- 

 viously been demonstrated . This will be described in detail in the next paper of 

 this series. The diet was therefore supplemented with one microgram of thiamine 

 per gram of diet, which resulted in a marked improvement in the condition of the 

 chicks. Only one more death occurred, so the comparison made in Table 3 is based 

 on the weight of the surviving chicks after 5 weeks of feeding of the supplementary 

 thiamine . 



Table 3 - Individual and Average Gains in Liveweight, and Pood Consumed Per Gram for 

 the Two Series of Growth Test s with Chlcksl/ 



Diet 

 Designation 



Gains in Liveweight 

 for 

 Individual Chicks 



Average Gain 

 in 



Liveweight 



Food Con- 

 sumed Per 

 Gram Gain 



Series I 

 Pilchard meal ... 



8% starfish meal 



16* 



29% extracted star- 

 fish meal 1st to 

 3rd wks. 



Gms. 



A 



Gms . 



37? 

 494 



Gms. 



I 



Gms. 

 399 



Gms] 



2o; 

 49: 

 122 



Gjs . 

 ft 



Gos. 



221 



Gms . 



M 



Gms . 



640 

 372 



Gms, 



in 



Grams 

 2857T 



567.3 

 361.4 



Grams 



IS 



JJ2_ 



Same plus thiaa 

 3rd to 8th wksc_ 



3?% starfish meal 

 1st to 3rd wks. 



J° 



i£ 



38' 



22* 



SL 



35. 



10" 



20* 



-22. 



JL 



252 



m. 



206 



190 



no 



40.0 

 182 



JiSL 



JaS. 



12* 



il 



3L 



31 



£L 



Jl 



22 



li 



11" 



37.0 



6.29 



Same plus thiamine 

 3rd to 8th wks. 2/. 

 Series II 



Pilchard meal 



yf> starfish meal .. 

 6* " " .. 



2U 



ill 



121 



152 



135.2 



•Dead. 



l/Duration of tests 



2/100 micrograms of 



970 

 818 

 722 



604 



867 

 662 

 906 



52£ 



903 



I 



H2 



873 



74 1 

 748 



707 



739 

 847 



m 



859 

 721 



2L5_ 



696 

 659 

 678 

 611 



Dead in 8 days. 

 is 8 weeks unless otherwise indicated, 

 thiamine added per 100 grams of diet. 



773 

 707 

 805 

 687 



807 

 757 

 693 

 252. 



967- 

 790 



832.7 

 765.4 

 769.6 



6 54.1 



-L5L 



3.04 

 2.89 

 2.90 

 2.86 



The data for individual gains, mean group gains in liveweight, and food con- 

 sumed per gram gain in weight are shown in Table 3. It is evident that there is 

 a large degree of individual variation in the early stages of growth of the chicks. 

 The data on food required per gram gain in liveweight are about what may be ex- 

 pected for groups showing poor growth. The efficiency of utilization of food 

 is almost invariably below normal for such groups . 



In the second series of growth tests, the groups receiving 3 and 6 percent 

 levels of starfish meal showed identical rates of growth , being 8 percent less than 

 that of the group fed pilchard meal. The group receiving 9 percent starfish meal 

 made only 78 percent of the gain in liveweight of the control group. A number of 

 changes were made in the composition of the mash used in this series (Table 2). 

 With the large reduction in maximum level of starfish meal in the diets, the amount 

 of pilchard meal in the control mash was reduced to 3.9 percent of the diet. Soy- 

 bean oilmeal in all diets was increased to compensate for the fish meal protein 

 that was removed. The adjustments between the mashes were small so that the amount 

 of corn could be kept almost constant in all four mashes . Ground oyster shell was 

 added to the control and to the diets containing 3 and 6 percent starfish meal to 

 balance, approximately, the calcium carbonate in the diet containing 9 percent 

 starfish meal. The range of the calcium: phosphorus ratios was reduced by the ad- 

 dition of 2 pereent bonemeal and 3 percent of a distiller's concentrate which was 

 used instead of the dried skim milk as a source of riboflavin. 



It seems certain that the poor growth of the control group in Series 1 was 

 due to a deficiency of riboflavin. The better performance of the groups fed 8 and 



