294 



ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS 



If the dams are maintained on a fat-free diet from the time of conception, 

 the young which are born show symptoms within a few days and do not 

 Hve l)eyond a month.'' The accentuated caudal degeneration observed 





X 



Fig. 8 (a) Dog maintained on low fat diet. Age 9 months. 



under these conditions (Schachtelhalmschwanz) appears within a few days 

 and may lead to the complete necrosis of the tail (see Fig. 7). 



Older animals placed on fat-free diet do not spontaneously develop 

 classical fat-deficiency symptoms. Only by superimposing a strain can adult 

 animals be brought to show fat-deficiency symptoms. Barki ct al}^ severely 



8 M. Guggenheim and R. Jiirgens, Helv. Physiol, et Pharmacol. Acta 2, 417 (1944). 

 " V. H. Barki, H. Nath, E. B. Hart, and C. A. Elvehjem, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. 

 Med. 66, 474 (1947). 



