1006 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. XXXI, No. 11 
In order to correct for the effects of the different percentages of fat 
present in the flesh of the two classes of cattle on the content of the 
other constituents the results of the analyses have been calculated to 
the fat-free basis, and these data are presented in Table IV. It is 
apparent that the composition of the fat-free flesh of the extremely 
emaciated cattle is not materially different from that of the original 
material, since the fat content of these samples was very low. In the 
case of the fat cattle, however, the percentage of each of the con¬ 
stituents, except fat, is materially raised when the results are calcu¬ 
lated as percentages of the fat-free material, but the same general 
differences in the composition of the flesh of the two classes of cattle 
remain. 
Table IV .—Composition of flesh from extremely emaciated cattle compared with 
that from fat cattle 
[Results are expressed in terms of percentages of the fat-free materiall 
Constituent 
Extremely emaciated cattle 
Fat 
cattle, 
No. 689 
No. 707 
No. 711 
average 
of 5 steers 
Moisture_ ___ ___ - 
Per cent 
80.31 
Per cent 
80.05 
Per cent 
81.70 
Per cent 
76. 27 
Ash ___ _ 
.96 
1.01 
.96 
1.10 
Total nitrogen.________ 
3.15 
3.15 
2.89 
3.54 
Protein (NX6.25) ___ _ 
19.69 
19.69 
18.06 
22.09 
Soluble nitrogen_____ 
.74 
.98 
.96 
1 . 01 
Coagulable nitrogen _ _ 
.59 
.62 
.57 
Amino nitrogen____ - 
.109 
.085 
.073 
.091 
Purine nitrogen . . _ 
.050 
.055 
.055 
Purines _ _ _ 
. 110 
. 120 
.120 
Creatinine . . .. _ _ 
.35 
.37 
.30 
Total phosphorus _ 
.176 
. 178 
.159 
.209 
Soluble phosphorus__ ... _ 
.137 
.136 
.125 
.159 
Soluble inorganic phosphorus _ _ _ __ 
.118 
.120 
. 110 
.114 
Soluble organic phorphorus__ _ 
.019 
.016 
.015 
.045 
Acidity ___ 
.50 
.42 
.35 
.76 
The average moisture content of the three samples of flesh from 
the extremely emaciated cattle is 80.68 per cent as compared with 
76.27 in that from the fat cattle, a difference of 4.41 per cent. The 
average percentages of ash in the flesh from the two classes of cattle 
are 0.98 and 1.10 per cent, respectively, and the average percentages 
of protein are 19.15 and 22.09 per cent. The percentage of total 
phosphorus is much higher in the flesh from the fat steers than in 
that from the emaciated cattle, the average percentages being 0.209 
and 0.171, respectively. On the other hand, no material differences 
were found in the total soluble, coagulable, or amino nitrogen in the 
muscle tissue of the two classes of animals, which apparently indi¬ 
cates that extreme emaciation in cattle is not accompanied by an 
increase in the solubility of the muscle proteins. 
It has been suggested that there might be an accumulation of 
certain end products of metabolism in the flesh of badly emaciated 
cattle resulting from the failure of the kidneys to function normally. 
It was found, however, that the percentages of purines and creatinine 
in the muscle tissue of this class of cattle were within normal limits.* 
When the data in Table IV were calculated to the moisture-free 
basis it was found that, except as to sugar, the flesh of the two classes 
of animals did not differ materially in composition. This indicates 
that the differences in composition reported in Table IV are due 
chiefly to the greater moisture content of the flesh from the emaciated 
cattle. 
