58 Report oF DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL HUSBANDRY OF THE 
experiments .on the use of phosphoric acid for herbivora which led 
to the conclusion that such an addition was beneficial. H. D’- 
Auchald'* found an increased weight of the skeleton of chickens 
which were fed a ration containing 4 grams of added bone when 
compared with those not receiving this addition, and Wheeler™® 
has observed that the addition of bone ash improves most grain 
rations as food for young chicks, 
Kohler?® has lately compared the assimilability of different forms 
of calcium phosphate by lambs and has given to di-calcium phos- 
phate a value four times greater than that of bone ash. H. Labbe™ 
in his own work mentions the faulty assimilation of inorganic 
phosphorus compounds and obtained much more favorable results 
with such organic forms as nucleins and lecithins. Desgrez and 
Zaky!§ have also experimented with the lecithins and nucleins on 
guinea pigs, and marked gains in weight were noted when these 
substances were fed. Gilbert and Fournier!® worked with young 
dogs with similar results. Springer®° lays great stress on the nutri- 
tive and stimulating value of the lecithins found in cereals. It 1s 
probable that the conclusions drawn by Springer cannot all be at- 
tributed to lecithins as other phosphorus compounds were present 
in the mate1ials he used in his experiments. 
Another phase of the problem that has received attention is 
whether or not mineral phosphates can be utilized in the forma- 
tion of such organic phosphorus structures as the nucleins. These 
latter bodies and the more complex nucleo-proteids are widely dis- 
tributed in blood and tissues and the source of their phosphorus is 
a question of importance. Rohman?! and his pupils have concluded 
that the animal organism has not the power to synthesize organic 
phosphorus combinations from phosphorus-free proteids and min- 
eral phosphates, while Keller?? and Ehrstrom** have deduced quite 
“Jour. Agr. Prat., n. ser. 7, 1904. 
*N. Y. Agr. Expt. Sta., Bul. 242. 
*Ztschr. Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussmtl., 8: 683, 1904. 
“ British Med. Jour., No. 2267, 1904. 
“Compt. Rend. Soc. Biol., (Paris), 57. 1904. 
“Idem, 53: 145. 1900. 
*L’Energie de Croissance. 
"Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift, 1808. 
* Archiv. fiir Kinderheilkunde, 1900. 
* Skandinavische Arch. fiir Physiologie, Bd. 14. 
