430 DISEASE IN WILD MAMMALS AND BIRDS 
encountered in both sexes and at any age. This last form 
ends in marasmus. Its chemical characteristic is a loss 
of calcium and phosphorus with retention of sulphur 
and magnesium. 
The progressive type has occurred very frequently 
among the Cebida? whose diet on careful examination, 
showed a protein content low in quantity, poor in quality, 
and especially deficient in the phosphorus-containing pro- 
teins and total fat. The carbohydrate was high. The ash 
was small in amount and predominatingly acid. The daily 
ration often showed only an unweighable trace of calcium, 
phosphorus or iron. Sodium, potassium, sulphur and 
magnesium, on the contrary, were present in amounts 
sufficient for equilibrium or in excess. The Vitamines 
A.B.O. were present but were not always correctly pro- 
portioned. The fat soluble A was low and in some daily 
rations was entirely lacking. 
Diet has at various times been proposed as at least 
one factor in the production of this condition, a premise 
that has gained considerable weight through the increase 
in the number of cases, both in man and in the domesti- 
cated animals, reported from the war-famine district of 
Central Europe where the dietary was restricted and 
unbalanced. It has been shown that when calcium is low 
in the diet, the amount excreted materially exceeds the 
intake. Benedict (5) has further shown that even during 
absolute fasts calcium is excreted. The requirements of 
this element for man have been fairly well worked out, 
but for animals we have no standards. Still it seems 
certain from the foregoing observations that storage 
supplies are called upon very early in cases of depriva- 
tion, while in pregnancy and lactation when the calcium 
requirements are greatly increased, a reason is found for 
a higher incidence of osteomalacia. Steenbok and Hart (6) 
have shown that the skeletons of cows and goats gave 
(5) Carnegie Institute Publication, No. 203, p. 247, 1915. 
(6) Jour. Biol. Chem., Vol. 14, p. 59, 1913. 
