472 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXVIII, No. 5 
guinea fowl was any richer in vitamin B than was that of the frying chickens. 
The facts available suggest that perhaps the ducks and the guinea fowl had 
greater capacity to store vitamin B in their muscle tissue than had the chickens. 
More evidence is necessary, however, before a positive conclusion can bedrawn. 
The hens’ gizzards had a very low antineuritic value, but the hens’ livers 
had a fairly high value, higher than that of any of the samples of poultry flesh. 
Twenty per cent of the dried hens’ liver in a ration with autoclaved rice fully 
protected a pen of 3 pigeons against both polyneuritis and loss in weight during a 
period of 56 days. The hens’ liver had a somewhat lower antineuritic value, 
however, than the liver of the ox, sheep, or hog, as previously reported by one of 
the writers (2). 
EGGS 
The results of our experiments show no significant differences in the vitamin B 
content of the eggs from the three breeds of chickens. The rather low antineuri¬ 
tic values that were obtained are somewhat surprising in view of the statements in 
the literature concerning the vitamin B content of eggs (1, P- f#, 6j P- 86). 
A careful perusal of the article by Cooper ( 1 ) indicates, however, that his experi¬ 
mental data, if judged by the standards employed by the writers, do not show a 
high antineuritic value for eggs, but, rather, a relatively low one. For example. 
Cooper found that 10 grams of raw, undried egg yolk daily in the ration of each 
of 2 pigeons protected them against polyneuritis for 55 days, but that they had 
lost 3 and 7.5 per cent in weight, respectively. This quantity of egg yolk corre¬ 
sponds to 7 grams of dried whole egg, and would amount to 46.6 per cent of the 
ration fed daily to a 300-gram pigeon in our experiments. 
SUMMARY 
The investigations reported in this paper are not sufficiently comprehensive to 
warrant any final conclusion as to the vitamin B content of poultry flesh and eggs 
as found on the markets in this country, and the results are therefore offered simply 
as a contribution to our knowledge of the subject. It is realized that additional 
information concerning the vitamin B content of this class of products is much to 
be desired. 
The results of the vitamin B studies with poultry flesh and eggs may be sum¬ 
marized as follows: 
1. The flesh from the hens was relatively deficient in the antineuritic vitamin, 
while the flesh from the growing chickens had a slightly higher value. 
2. The turkey flesh had a rather low antineuritic value. 
3. The flesh from guinea fowl contained a fair supply of the antineuritic vitamin. 
4. The duck flesh was richer in the antineuritic vitamin than that from any of 
the other fowls. 
5. The hens’ livers had the highest antineuritic value of any of the products 
tested, while the gizzards had a very low value. 
6. The hens’ eggs tested had a rather low antineuritic value. 
LITERATURE CITED 
(1) Cooper, E. A. 
1912. ON THE PROTECTIVE AND CURATIVE PROPERTIES OP CERTAIN FOOD¬ 
STUFFS AGAINST POLYNEURITIS INDUCED IN BIRDS BY A DIET OF 
polished rice. Jour. Hyg. 12: 436-462. 
(2) Hoagland, R. 
1923. VITAMIN B IN THE EDIBLE TISSUES OF THE OX, SHEEP, AND HOG. 
U. S. Dept. Agr. Bui. 1138, 48 p., illus. 
(3) 1924. antineuritic value of hog muscle. Amer. Jour. Physiol. 67: 
300-309. 
(4) McCarrison, R. 
1921. studies in deficiency disease. 270 p., illus. London. 
(5) Osborne, T. B., and Mendel, L. B. 
1923. eggs as a source of vitamin b. Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc. 80: 
302-303. 
(6) Sherman, H. C., and Smith, S. L. 
1922. the vitamins. 273 p., illus. New York. 
