FISHERY INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED STATES, 1931 103 



of Chemistry and Soils, completed an investigation concerning the 

 chemical and physical properties and vitamin content of burbot- 

 liver oil, in which it was shown that commercially produced burbot- 

 liver oils were frpm four to ten times as potent in vitamin A and 

 from three to four times as potent in vitamin D as medicinal cod- 

 liver oil. It was also shown that these oils meet the United States 

 Pharmacopoeia X requirements for cod-liver oil with respect to 

 specific gravity, iodine number, acid value, and unsaponifiable matter. 

 The saponification values were approximately equal to the maximum 

 permitted for cod-liver oil. 



ANTIANEMIC PROPERTIES OF OYSTERS 



Through a cooperative arrangement with the South Carolina Food 

 Research Commission, Charleston, S. C, E. Jack Coulson, of the 

 bureau has made a study in the laboratories of this commission of the 

 antianemic properties of oysters. Samples of oysters were gathered 

 from the most important oyster beds of the Atlantic and Gulf waters 

 and analyzed for iron, copper, and manganese. 



From this study it is possible to group the samples into three 

 distinct groups: (1) North Atlantic, with high copper, low iron, and 

 low manganese, (2) South Atlantic, with high iron, low copper, and 

 low manganese, and (3) Gulf, with high iron, low copper, and high 

 manganese. When the oysters from different localities were fed to 

 anemic animals they all induced regeneration of hemoglobin. The 

 response of hemoglobin regeneration was directly proportional to the 

 amount of iron present, thus indicating that copper was not the 

 controlling factor. This investigation demonstrates the importance 

 of oysters as a source of iron in addition to their other food factors. 

 It also was demonstrated that the ether-soluble material in oysters 

 saponified wdth alcoholic potash carries appreciable quantities of 

 vitamin D. 



A great deal of interest has been shown in fish flour as a result of 

 cooperative investigations in w^hich this product forms a part of the 

 diet for children. These investigations which started about May, 

 1931, are still in progress and, therefore, no definite report can be 

 made at this time. 



To correlate its laboratory studies on the nutritive value of fishery 

 products with the actual feeding of these products to farm animals, 

 the bureau is cooperating with the United States Department of 

 Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Experimental Farm, Belts- 

 ville, Md., and the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station, Wooster, 

 Ohio, in extending its nutrition studies to farm animals, such as 

 poultry, sheep, swine, cattle, etc. 



KELP-MEAL EXPERIMENTS 



A series of cooperative experiments with a producer of kelp meal 

 have been conducted by Dr. H. P. Morris, a research associate, in 

 the Washington laboratory to determine the nutritive value of kelp 

 meal. One experiment of this series was conducted to learn the 

 optimum level at which kelp meal can be fed as an addition to an 

 otherwise complete diet composed of natural foodstuffs. 



The additions of kelp meal were made to the diets of albino rats 

 at levels of 3, 6, and 10 per cent. As a result it was found that no 



