VI. p:FFErTS OF DEFICIENCY 227 



Sure ct al.,-^ on the other huiitl, failed to observe a marked increase in 

 blood phosphatase during rickets in rats. Dikshit and Patwardhan'*^^ not 

 only found no increase in the phosphatase of the blood of rats cku'ing rickets 

 but observed a pronounced fall as the disease progressed. Truhlar et al?^ 

 found no change in the phosphatase content in the lung, liver, kidney, and 

 heart of ricketic rats. 



In the above work on rats the diets were hnv in phosphorus and high in 

 calcium. Whether this accounts for the lower phosphatase in rickets in rats 

 as compared to the human or the chick, or whether it is a species difference, 

 apparently is not clear. Rupel et al.^ have reported an increase in serum 

 phosphatase in ricketic calves. Here, again, the rise was not pronounced, 

 and the diet contained ample calcium and phosphorus. 



5. X-Ray Examination 



Owing to the failure to deposit calcium salts in the skeleton of ricketic 

 animals, the bone is less impervious to the roentgen ray. It is thus possible 

 to detect rickets by means of the x-ray. 



Steenbock and others--' have presented the roentgenograms of the right 

 rear leg of a ricketic pup and of two normal controls. The ricketic pup was 

 on a basal diet free from vitamin D but containing sufficient calcium and 

 phosphorus. The controls recei\'ed the same diet, but, in addition, the 

 non-saponifiable fraction of cod liver oil was given to one control and whole 

 cod liver oil was supplied to the other. Calcification in general was consider- 

 ably less in the bones from the ricketic dog than in those from either of the 

 two controls. The patella and the condyles in the former are barely ^'isible, 

 and the cortices of the tibia are thin and less opaque. The diameter of the 

 tibia is enlarged, and the distance between the diaphysis and the epiphysis 

 is increased. In the controls the line of demarcation between the diaphysis 

 and the epiphysis is distinct and sharp but narrow, whereas that in the 

 ricketic animal is indistinct and irregular. 



Roentgenograms of the costochrondal junction of ricketic calves have been 

 presented by Bechtel et at} Here again the junction of diaphysis and car- 

 tilage in the ricketic animals is irregular and indefinite and in places shows 

 areas of incomplete calcification. 



Hart and associates'^ published radiographs of the complete bony struc- 

 ture of a ricketic chick and of a normal control. In the ricketic animal there 

 was very little differentiation between cortex and marrow ca\'ity, and the 

 whole skeleton Avas almost devoid of any dense bone. 



"B. Sure, M. C. Kik, and K. 8. Huchanan, Pvoc. .SV. Exptl. Biol. Med. 35, 209 



(1936-1937). 

 »o P. K. Dikshit and \. X. Patwardhan, Indian J . Med. Research 35, 91 (1947). 

 " J. Truhlar, L. Drektor, G. McGuire, and K. G. Falk,./. Biol. Chem. 127, 345 (1939). 



