﻿VITAMIN B IN EDIBLE TISSUES OF OX, SHEEP, AND HOG. 23 



PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS WITH EDIBLE VISCERA. 



Cooper (6) (15), (1912) (1914) studied the antineuritic properties 

 of a number of animal tissues in feeding tests with pigeons. Ox liver 

 had the highest value, the daily addition of 0.9 grams of the dry 

 tissue to the ration of pigeons being sufficient to protect them against 

 polyneuritis for 50 days. The following quantities of each of the 

 other tissues tested had like values: Ox heart, 1.7 grams; ox cere- 

 brum, 1.2 grams; ox cerebellum, 2.4 grams; and sheep cerebrum, 1.6 

 to 3 grams. 



McCollum and Davis (16) (1915) report that the addition of dried 

 pig heart or kidney to the "fat-free diet" of rats that were declining 

 in weight greatly stimulated growth, the kidney having greater value 

 than the heart. 



Eddy (17) (1916) found that the water-soluble portion of an alco- 

 holic extract of sheep pancreas was capable of inducing marked 

 growth in rats that had previously been fed a vitamin-free diet. 



Osborne and Mendel (18) (1918) studied the value of dried pig 

 heart, liver, kidney, and brain in the diets of young rats as a source 

 of vitamins A and B, as well as of protein. They found that 19 

 per cent of pig heart in the ration as the sole source of protein and 

 vitamins A and B induced normal growth in rats. Similar results 

 were obtained with a ration containing 22 per cent of pig kidney. 

 Rats made normal growth on a ration that contained 32.5 per cent 

 of pig brain as a source of vitamin B, vitamin A being supplied in 

 the form of butterfat. Ten per cent of pig brain did not supply 

 sufficient vitamin B for growth. Seven per cent of pig liver, in an 

 otherwise adequate diet, did not furnish sufficient vitamin B for 

 growth; but when 10 per cent of liver was added, satisfactory growth 

 took place. 



McCollum, Simmonds, and Parsons (10) (1921) found that 25 per 

 cent of dried ox liver or of ox kidney in a ration furnished an ample 

 supply of vitamins A and B for growth and reproduction in white 

 rats. Rats receiving 20 per cent -of ox kidney in the ration also 

 grew and reproduced normally, but those getting 20 per cent of ox 

 liver did not do so well. One lot of rats that was fed solely on dried 

 ox blood declined rapidly in weight and at the end of two weeks the 

 ration was changed to contain 50 per cent of dried ox muscle. The 

 rats then grew at about half the normal rate. 



EXPERIMENTAL WORK. 



The method of procedure followed in these experiments was prac- 

 tically the same as that employed in the tests with muscle tissue 

 described in Part I. The various tissues studied were obtained in 

 fresh conditions from local meat-packing establishments and were 

 dried in the manner previously described. The dry tissue was used in 

 all tests and the polished rice was first ground and then heated four 

 hours at 120° C. m an autoclave before being used in the rations. 



TESTS WITH OX LIVER. 



The results of the feeding tests with ox liver are presented in Table 

 13. Three pens of pigeons were fed rations which contained 5, 15, 

 and 30 per cent, respectively, of ox liver. By comparing the survival 



