The following diet produces the most extreme degree of rickets:

Ration 3143

Wheat (entire kernel) ................. 33.0

Maize (entire kernel) ................. 33.0

Gelatin ....................... 15.0

Wheat gluten ..................... 15.0

NaCl ......................... 1.0

CaC03 ........................ 3.0

The dietary faults in this mixture are of a threefold nature. It contains about twice the optimum amount of calcium, and is very deficient in phosphorus and in fat-soluble A. The calcium: phosphorus ratio differs markedly, therefore, in this diet from that of the other diets described (3127 and 3133). The severity of the lesions produced were much greater than are ever seen in human cases of the disease. A small amount of fat-soluble A was furnished by the wheat and maize.

The results of feeding young animals on these diets in which there were faulty proportions between the calcium and phosphorus and a deficiency of fat-soluble A, are seen to depend in their severity upon the deviation from the optimal of the Ca:P ratio. We have repeatedly observed that the addition of excessive amounts of calcium carbonate to diets which were deficient in phosphorus and in fat-soluble A, induce most pronounced disturbances in the growth of the bones. It appears from these studies, that it is of more importance to the individual to maintain the proper ratio between the calcium and phosphorus than to deviate from the optimal concentrations of these two elements, when the ratios are more favorable.