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The paper describes the preservation of cattle carcase offal by autolysis in the presence of formic acid, the utilisation by pigs of feed containing the preserved offal (ROH) and the evaluation of the carcases of pigs produced. ROH was produced from minced intestines, stomach, lungs and blood of cattle incubated for 7 days at 33°C with 3% by weight of formic acid. No pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the ROH and proximate and amino acid analyses showed it to be a good energy and protein source. Forty-eight crossbred pigs, each weighing approximately 28 kg, were individually fed feeds containing from 0 to 21.2% ROH dry matter until they were slaughtered at 75 kg liveweight. No significant difference was noted in the performance or carcase quality of pigs fed the different dietary treatments, but the carcases tended to become fatter as the ROH content of the feed increased. This was reflected in a wider spread of grading which was considered to be due to the inability to maintain uniform energy values of the diets, as the level of ROH increased, exacerbated by undervaluation of its energy content. The results show that ROH is palatable to pigs and can supply a large proportion of their dietary protein and energy requirements. The use of ROH may have particular application in situations where the quantity of ruminant offal available does not justify the production of meals. Since the technology is uncomplicated and inexpensive, the preparation and use of ROH would seem to have particular value for use in developing countries.

SUMMARY The clinical, biochemical and pathological observations made during an outbreak of acute myopathy in yearling cattle which followed turnout to spring pasture are described. The affected cattle were between 13 and 20 months old and the weight range was 225–320 kg. The diet fed during the winter was vitamin E and selenium deficient. In one case the vitamin deficiency was exacerbated by preservation of the cereal portion of the diet with propionic acid. Other predisposing factors were the unaccustomed exercise following winter housing and the onset of inclement weather after turnout. The condition is compared with enzootic muscular dystrophy of young calves, and it is concluded that the condition is an atypical manifestation of the calf disease but affecting older animals. New husbandry practices, particularly the storage of high moisture grain, seem likely to increase the frequency of the condition.

SUMMARY Samples from tetany-producing and non-tetany-producing pastures were extracted with water at pH values ranging from 5.0 to 9.0 and the amounts of magnesium and calcium in the extracts were determined and expressed as a percentage of the total amount present in the sample. Samples of faeces from a normal and a hypomagncsaemic cow were similarly treated. No gross differences in the solubility of the magnesium were found between the pasture samples or between the faeces samples. The significance of these findings is discussed.

Summary The main events in the pathogenesis of acute lupinosis of sheep, as revealed by biochemical and pathological studies, have been elucidated. Inappetence or anorexia, accompanied by mild pyrexia, ushered in the intoxication, often after only 2 or 3 days. Plasma bilirubin increased significantly on an average of 5'3 days, followed by the plasma enzymes glutamic-oxalacetic transaminase, lactic dehydrogenase and glutamic dehydrogenase on an average of 6'5 days. These increases, indicating cell damage, occurred irrespective of whether toxic feed intake had ceased or was continuing, and the level remained elevated for the duration of trials of up to 38 days during which normal appetite for non-toxic feed was not regained. Acute liver damage with fatal results occurred in only one sheep. Nine others had varying degrees of less acute or subacute lupinosis characterized by minor necrosis and more prominent granular degeneration of liver cells. The latter appeared to be chiefly responsible for the elevation of plasma enzymes, suggesting irreversible changes in the liver cell permeability. Not only do enzymes and other cytoplasmic elements leak out of affected cells, but plasma constituents including bilirubin and serum iron appear to traverse the membrane barrier to initiate the formation of toxic granules in tile necrobiotic hepatic cells. Interference with the hepatic conjugation and excretion of plasma bilirubin, accompanied by an increase in intravascular erythrocyte damage, is a further event in the pathogenesis of lupinosis. Previous studies have shown that the red cell damage is at least partly associated with release of copper from the liver cell stores, representing a form of copper poisoning. The evidence strongly supports the clinical observations that factors in the pathogenesis of the disease influencing the development of the toxic principle on lupins by saprophytic fungi are balanced against factors determining the susceptibility of the sheep such as liver copper enhancing mad unknown protective substances reducing susceptibility.

Cysteine, in a concentration of 850 mg/kg body weight administered intravenously 10 min prior to total body irradiation with 880 r, counteracted the inhibiting effect of x-rays on nucleic acid synthesis in the intestinal mucosa of the albino rat. Immediately after irradiation the rats received 20-50 micro-c P to the power of 32 intraperitoneally. The small intestine was used for determining the inorganic tissue P and desoxypentose nucleic acid P and their specific activities.

The administration of a cobalt diet for 5 and 8 days before and for 15 days after x-irradiation increased the tolerance of female albino mice to total body x-irradiation (720 r). The administration of a cobalt diet for 36 days before and for 15 days after irradiation and the administration of a cobalt diet for 30 days beginning immediately after irradiation produced no pronounced beneficial effects.

Mice receiving both a nonlethal thermal burn and 720 r x-irradi ation showed earlier and higher mortality than mice receiving only x-irradiation. The results from burning either immediately before or after x-irradiation were about the same. Possible reasons for the higher mortality are discussed.