Miscellaneous Pests. \ 



man to exterminate the rat. It is this 

 latter reason that will be the most im- 

 portant factor to be overcome when the 

 time comes to commence a campaign 

 against the rat. The last chapter con- 

 tains the Bill already referred to, the 

 whole expenditure of which would fall 

 on the Local Authority. 



The book is well written and mistakes 

 are few. All those interested in the 

 subject should read it, and our Agri- 



i [MAY, 1909. 



cultural Societies would do well to de- 

 mote a little time to the subject. The 

 rat should certainly be exterminated, 

 but we fear conservative Englishmen 

 will not move very quickly in the 

 matter. 



A. W. N. P. 



(Review " The Rat Problem" by R. W. 

 Boelter). London : John Bale, Sons & 

 Danielsson, Ltd. Price 2s. Qd — The 

 Veterinary News, Vol. VI., No. 264, 

 January, 1909, 



LIVE STOCK. 



OSTEOPOROSIS. 

 The Mineral Constituents op Foods. 



By Herbert Ingle, b.sc, f.i.c, 

 p.r.s.s.a., F.C.S., 

 Late Chief Chemist, Transvaal Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



The importance of a " well-balanced " 

 ration in feeding animals has long been 

 recognised, and most intelligent stock- 

 keepers pay some attention to the 

 albuminoid ratio of the foods they use. 



That the requirements of animals 

 with respect to the proportions of albu- 

 minoids or " flesh -formers" to fats and 

 carbohydrates or " heat-formers " in their 

 diet vary with circumstances is also 

 realised by many, and proper attention 

 is paid to this in framing rations for 

 various animals kept under different 

 conditions. But beyond the general 

 and vague belief that the food should 

 contain a sufficient amount of " ash 

 constituents" or " bone-formers," little 

 consideration has been given to the diet 

 of animals with respect to its mineral 

 constituents. 



The author has recently been investi- 

 gating from a chemical aspect a disease 

 of the bones of horses, donkeys, and 

 mules, which is particularly prevalent 

 in South Africa, and from a consider- 

 ation of the results obtained has been 

 led to a theory which, he ventures to 

 think, may account for the prevalence 

 of the disease in that country, and 

 may indicate means for its prevention, 

 or at least amelioration, and at the 

 same time furnish points worthy of 

 consideration by all interested in the 

 feeding of animals. 



The disease in question, Osteoporosis, 

 is characterised by an extraordinary 

 weakening of the bones, and is the 

 cause of considerable losses among 

 stable-fed horses and mules, 



In 1905, the writer examined the 

 bones of a considerable number of horses, 

 mules and donkeys. The bones were 

 merely numbered, and he was not 

 informed which ware from diseased and 

 which from healthy animals. When 

 the analyses were finished he found it 

 possible to accurately divide the bones, 

 from their chemical composition, into 

 those from healthy and those from 

 diseased animals. 



Those from diseased animals were 

 much richer in organic matter and 

 poorer in ash than those from healthy 

 animals. The most conspicuous differ- 

 ence was shown by taking the ratio 

 of nitrogen (which is a measure of the 

 nitrogenous substance— ossein— present) 

 to ash in the bones, as the influence of 

 the very variable fat present was thus 

 eliminated. 



The value of this ratio was found to 

 vary in the case of diseased animals 

 from 1 : 9"8 to 1 : 11 "7, the mean value 

 being 1: 10*8; with the healthy animals 

 the ratio varied from 1 : 13*5 to 1 : 

 15*6, the means being 1 : 14-37. 



In the bones of healthy animals the 

 mean amounts of lime and phosphorus 

 pentoxide were 32-28 % and 2P41 % 

 respectively, while with the diseased 

 bones the figures were 28-50 and 19*06 %. 



In tabulating the results and consider- 

 ing the possible causes which might 

 tend to produce such a condition of the 

 bones, the author was led to the con- 

 clusion that the peculiar diet of work- 

 ing animals in the country — a ration 

 composed wholly of cereals, either oat- 

 hay or oat-hay and " mealies" (i.e., maize 

 or Indian corn)— might possibly account 

 for the frequency of the disease in 

 South Africa. 



Some veterinary surgeons ascribe the 

 prevalence of the disease to deficiencies 

 of the food-stuffs iu iime and phos- 

 phoric acid, while others are persuaded 



