The highest median concentrations for nine of the 
trace elements occurred in the ash of gizzard linings 
(aluminum, 5,000 ppm; barium, 133; boron, 58; 
copper, 483; and titanium, 700) or of feathers (lead, 
317 ppm; vanadium, >100; zinc, 28,125; and zir- 
conium, 322). These body parts also contained the 
second or third highest median concentrations for six 
of the remaining elements. Of these, in the analyses 
conducted, iron and tin were most concentrated in the 
ash of lungs (>7,000 and 42 ppm, respectively), 
nickel and silver in fat (158 and 15, respectively), 
cobalt in bursae (106), manganese in livers (298), 
molybdenum in kidneys (124), and strontium in 
spleens (126). Chromium was extremely low in all 
tissues, the median values never exceeding 4 ppm. 
(Iron was probably more concentrated in blood than 
in lungs. Because of limitations of the analytical pro- 
cedure used, actual concentrations of iron in blood were 
not determined. ) 
If the amounts of elements in ash are converted to 
concentrations in the wet body parts (dry for bones and 
feathers), bone, because of its high ash content, 
becomes the body part containing the highest concen- 
trations of many elements. However, concentrations in 
unashed bone, as well as in feathers, were based on dry 
weights, while those in other unashed tissues were 
calculated on a wet-weight basis. Thus, concentrations 
in unashed bones and feathers are not strictly com- 
parable to those in the wet tissues. If bone is excluded, 
concentrations of elements in wet (or dry) tissues 
exhibit patterns of distribution similar to, but in lesser 
quantities than, those in ash. Exceptions were concen- 
trations in fat, intestines, and thyroid glands, where the 
percent ash was exceedingly low (Table 2). Conse- 
quently, these body parts contained relatively lower 
concentrations, when compared with those of other 
body parts, on a wet-weight basis than in ash. 
A particularly interesting finding was the relatively 
greater abundance of inorganic ions in leg muscles 
than in sternal muscles. Calcium was 10 times greater, 
and six of the trace elements (aluminum, barium, 
cobalt, copper, vanadium, and zinc) at least 2 times 
greater in leg muscles. Only one element, titanium, 
was strikingly more abundant (5 times greater) in 
sternal muscles than in leg muscles. 
The behavior of barium and strontium in_ the 
pheasants — their wide distribution and relatively uni- 
form concentrations (Tables 9 and 20) — is similar to 
that of essential elements. Tipton & Cook (1963:142, 
144) reported the same findings for humans, but added 
that this might be expected of strontium, which is 
chemically closely related to the essential element 
calcium. The high concentrations of barium and stron- 
tium in pheasants, as compared with those in humans, 
tempt speculation about the essentiality of these ele- 
ments for birds. Schroeder (1965:218) has stated 
that strontium is essential or probably essential for 
mammals. 
Changes in concentrations with increase in age of 
the pheasants were evident for several elements. Four 
of the major elements (calcium, magnesium, phos- 
phorus, and sodium) were usually less abundant in the 
ash of intestines and livers of adults than in those of 
juveniles, perhaps because of higher metabolic rates 
in the younger birds. Concentrations of sodium also 
decreased in leg muscles and sternal muscles with 
increase in age. However, sodium became more con- 
centrated in bones and feet as the birds became older. 
Other changes associated with increased age were 
increases in concentrations of aluminum in intestines, 
barium in bones, feet, intestines, and gizzard muscles, 
lead in bones and feet, strontium in intestines, and 
zirconium in bones. Of these five trace elements, only 
strontium is known to be essential or probably essential 
for mammals (Schroeder 1965:218). Schroeder (1965: 
227) also reported that at least four of these elements, 
zirconium being the exception, accumulate in one or 
more tissues of humans with increasing age. 
Comparisons With Concentrations in Other Vertebrates 
In those body parts that were comparable, the 
median concentrations of elements in pheasants exhib- 
ited many similarities to median values reported for 
humans by Tipton & Cook (1963:105-130) and 
Tipton et al. (1965:410-439). Noteworthy exceptions 
were magnesium in thyroids (9 times greater in 
pheasants), potassium in pancreases (2 times greater), 
and calcium and potassium in hearts and kidneys 
(40-50 percent less). 
Among essential trace elements (those essential or 
probably essential for mammals, Schroeder 1965:218), 
important differences between pheasants and humans 
were in cobalt in kidneys and muscles (10-20 times 
greater in pheasants); manganese in livers, pancreases, 
and spleens (2-3 times greater); molybdenum in kid- 
neys (4 times greater) and in livers (60 percent less); 
and zinc in kidneys, lungs, muscles, and spleens (50- 
70 percent less). In most of the body parts analyzed, 
copper and iron were 20-70 percent less abundant in 
pheasants than in humans. As the pheasants were 
allowed to bleed when they were sacrificed, their body 
parts would understandably contain less iron than those 
of humans. 
‘“Nonessential” elements exhibiting differences be- 
tween pheasants and humans were aluminum in livers, 
muscles, and spleens (2-5 times greater in pheasants) ; 
nickel in brains, livers, pancreases, and spleens (2-4 
times greater); silver in brains, muscles, and spleens 
