B. N. MAJUMDAR, S. N. RAY AND K.
C.
SEN
105
Their teeth were fully developed and, as such, were
presumably more resistant In acute fluorine
poisoning.
DISCUSSION
From the above observations. it is very pro-
bable, that the symptoms produced in our animals
by fluorine administration are similar to those
seen in animals suffering from
so-called
osteomalacia and rheumatic arthritis.
The
several objections to the theory that the Held
cases are authentic instances of osteomalacia may
be recapitulated : (1) The first symptom of osteo-
malacia is a low phosphorus content of the blood
scrum. No such lowering of blood phosphorus
was seen in the field cases. In our animals also,
the calcium and phosphorus level in the blood
was scarcely affected, even when the animals were
showing severe symptoms of toxicosis. (2) The
calcium content of osteomalacia bones is detinite-
ly low [McCrudden, 1910], while the calcium and
phosphorus contents of bones from fluorosis cases
are not altered. With the exception of one sample,
in all samples from field cases as well as in those
from our experimental animals, the percentages
of calcium and phosphorus in the bones were found
to be scarcely altered. (3) We found that animals
showing symptoms of fluorosis began to improve
as soon as fluorine administration was stopped.
Mahajan (private communication) also reports
that when affected animals were removed from
one village to another they often showed rapid
improvement. As conditions of feeding in neigh-
bouring villages may be taken to be more or less
similar, the improvement in the condition of the
animals may be assumed to be due to the with-
drawal of fluorine from their feed. (4) Under
field conditions, it was seen that healthy animals
imported from outside into endemic zones deve-
loped this disease in six to eight months' time.
in our experiment, too. the symptoms were seen
to occur after about six months. It is not possible
for osteomalacia to occur so rapidly, as symptoms
of aphosphorosis can be brought about in bovines
only with great difficulty after 2 or 3 years, while
those of acalcicosis are practically impossible to
reproduce.
One point of interest may be mentioned here.
it has been for long tacitly assumed that all the
fluorine in the feed of the animals is obtained from
the water. When we take our low fluorine group
of animals we find that these animals were given
similar amounts of fluorine to those they would
have ingested had they been drinking water with
a fluorine content as high as 4 p.p.m. These
animals, however, behaved in every way like the
controls, and it can be assumed that the fluorine
in such small amounts has no deleterious action
upon their health at least within so short
a time. If anything, it may have a slightly stimu-
lating effect upon calcium and phosphorus mobili-
zation (Table IV). In order to produce symptoms
of even mild chronic fluorosis, within a period of
six to eight months, much larger amounts of
fluorine have to be ingested. As water intake can
supply only a small fraction of the toxic dose, it
may be presumed that the rest of fluorine adminis-
tered must have come from the concentrate mix-
ture and roughage given to the animals or, as
is more likely, from some other extraneous source,
such as natural earth licks. In support of this
theory, we give the following analytical figures for
the fluorine contents of the ingredients of the
rations used for our experimental animals ;—
TABLE VIII
Fluorine contents of food-duffs and water given
to our experimental animals
No.
1
2
3
4
Name of material
Wheat bhoosa . .
Barley . . .
Ground nut cake
Water . . . .
Fluorine content
parts per million
3.5
4
1.02
0.1
Thus it will be seen that the fluorine concentra-
tion of the fodder may be about 40 times higher
than that of the water, indeed, the control
animals in the Coimbatore experiment were
apparently receiving more than 200 mg. fluorine
per day from the feed alone. Two samples of
earth lick, one from Hyderabad and the other from
Central Provinces, were examined, and had
fluorine concentration of 7.1 and 7.9 p.p.m. res-
pectively.
in this connection it may be of interest to men-
tion the work of Bartholomew [1935]. This
worker found that roots of cow peas grown in
culture solution, containing 10 p.p.m, of fluorine
in the form of Na 2 SiF 6 , contained as much as
1970 p.p.m. of fluorine. He also found that the
availability of phosphorus in culture solution to
the plants grown in it decreased as the fluorine
content was increased.
This last observa-
tion is of special significance, for it is already
known from our own investigations as well, as
from those reported by the Government Agricul-
tural Chemist, Coimbatore, that the phosphorus
contents of the fodders from the endemic, fluorosis
zones are low,