Cclxxxi. Cereals and Rickets. Iv. the Effect of Immaturity of the Maize

THE present report on the effect of the ripening process on the anticalcifying properties of maize had its origin in two lines, of interest. In the first place, it was expected that if differences between immature and ripe grains were found to exist, the foundation might thereby be laid for profitable studies on the nature of an anticalcifying factor or factors [Mellanby, 1921; 1922; 1924; 1925; 1926; 1930; Green and Mellanby, 1928]. In the second place, the irregularity in the production of rickets on Ration 2965 [Steenbock and Black, 1925] as reported by Harris and Bunker [1930; 1931] might be explained. In seven or more years of use of Ration 2965, even though we have obtained our supply of maize from numerous sources on the open market, we have not experienced the irregularities in the production of rickets reported by Harris and Bunker. They claim to have overcome the difficulty by ageing the ground maize for 6 months or more, but storage of the whole kernels as distinguished from the ground maize was not found to result in improvement. Goldblatt [1931] has suggested that the difficulty was not caused by a variation in the quality of the maize but in a variable settling out of the calcium carbonate from the other ingredients of the ration. He has proposed the incorporation of gelatin in the diet to prevent this.