Jan. 26,1924 
The Nutritive Properties of Wild Rice 
223 
Considering that many of the cereals not only are low in inorganic 
constituents and vitamin A but also have proteins of poor quality, casein 
was the next addition made to the rice-salt-vitamin A ration. The new 
ration, consisting of wild rice 86 parts, salt mixture 4 parts, butter fat 
5 parts, and casein 5 parts, was fed to the rats of Lot 4 (fig. 1). The 
addition of the casein allowed the rats to grow normally, although repro¬ 
duction and rearing of young were not satisfactory. Each of the females 
had one litter, but out of a total of 29 rats in the second generation only 
3 could be reared to 
We&ht 
adult size, the other 
26 either being born 
dead, dying shortly 
after birth, or being 
destroyed by the 
mother. 
The three rats of 
the second generation, 
Lot 5 (fig. 1), had a 
total weight of 147 
gm. at the end of the. 
fifth week, when they 
were weaned and 
given the mother’s 
ration. For the first 
four weeks their 
growth was normal, 
but after this period 
growth was much 
below normal. This 
failure to grow nor¬ 
mally was probably 
due to the fact that 
the rats had a lung 
infection which was 
manifesting itself in 
our rat colony at the 
time, although it 
might have been due 
to a dietary deficiency 
which prevented nor¬ 
mal development in 
the second generation. 
The excellent results obtained by the addition of the small amount of 
casein showed that the protein of the wild rice was not wholly adequate 
for growth, and in fact was probably the only other factor deficient in 
the cereal. The two additions already made, inorganic salts and vitamin 
A, with the further addition of protein, make wild rice a food better 
suited to promote growth than the same additions to polished cultivated 
rice. Thus, McCollum and Davis 6 found that the addition of 2 per cent 
of casein to a ration consisting of polished rice, salt mixture, and butter 
fat did not lead to growth, but that growth was greatly stimulated by 
the addition of wheat embryo. The growth curves of their rats, 7 whose 
Fig. 2.—Growth curves of rats, illustrating the effect of additions of 
vitamin B to wild rice rations which had been modified by casein, but¬ 
ter fat, and mineral salts. 4 - indicates death of rat 395, Dot 6; y denotes 
young. 
6 McCollom, E. V., and Davis, M., op. err., p. 200. 
7 McCollum, E. V., and Davis, M., op. err., p. 191, 223. 
