The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1923-10-26

ton usually given them. and eyes win
become dull. Rapidly they become thin
and emaclated, and are ready to bite
the hand thrust into the cage. Soon
afterward they die. The varying of
this diet ever so slightly will produce
like results, but lengthening or decreas-
ing the time 1t takes to accomplish the
experiment.
Life OF Rat Is Three Years.
When a rat becomes old it exhibits
signs Of irrltabillty. Its coat becomes
rough, and its temper mean. Walking
along the rows of cages one will see,
here and there, rat that looks for all
the world like venerable grandfather
Of the rat colony. You are sure that
It is at least three years old. which Is
the extreme length Of a rats life.
Here agNln the experiments are to
blame. The rat may be only three
months or q year old. Diets contain
Ing certain things and lacking in others
have made the rat prematurely old.
One of the most notable experiments
deals with the mother rat and her
young. Regulated diets will leave a
female rat incapable Of producing d
family. Other diets will affect the
young to such an extent that litter
after litter will be brought into the
world, only to die. A well-proportloned
diet, on the other hand, will save every
baby in ninety-nine filters out of every
hundred. 4
Diet and Offspring.
Under normal conditions the mother
rat is solictous of her young. While
properly nourished she will give them
every attention. But when Doctor
McCollum changes the diet, the mother
will become nervous and will eventu-
ally attack and destroy her family.
Experiments have proved that a diet
adequate to maintain the mother In a
healthy condition will allow her to care
properly for her young. But as a
mother rat is fed diet that produces
certain ailments or adverse conditions,
these symptoms are invariably i'm
parted to the baby rats in the mothers
milk. If the diet is corrected, both
mother and young may return to
health. This, also holds good In cases
where the mother has destroyed the
litter. After a mother has destroyed
two or three litters, while on an INSULT
Gent diet, the diet has been changed
to an adequate one, and the next litter
has received the most careful attention
from the mother.
The study extends down several gen.
erations of the same family. Rats fed
on an inadequate diet, which at the
same time will permit them to pro
duce a litter will die naturally. The
second and third generations Of the
same family will have the same diet,
and at the end of the third generation
the family usually dies out.
Started Work Fifteen Years Ago.
Since Doctor McCollum started his
experiments fifteen years ago, the I'M
portance of diet has been recognized
more and more. BY adding certain
foods he has succeeded in creating a
disease, and by substituting other foods
he has accomplished the feat Of cor
recting morbid conditions. He con-
siders proper feeding the most impor-
tant step toward the prevention Of
human ills.
One of the experiments has to do
with the value Of light in curing dis
eases. According to Doctor McCOllum,
large percentage of school children
in the United States are suffering from
ricketts, In many cases this ill has
been contracted by the baby from the
mother, while in other cases it is the
result of improper diets. Tests have
been made to determine just what diet
is responsible for the condition. I'm
many cases." Doctor McCOllum says,
"the excessive amount Of cereals con-
sumed is responsible"
Outside of the rat laboratory is
big lawn. In the middle stands stool
and on the stool Is a screened cage.
One lone rat occupies the cage, and
with the hot sun glazing down from
above, seeks vainly for shade. The rat
is suffering from ricketts,, as result
of improper diet, and now he is being
subjected to another experiment which
may cure him of the disease.
U. S. MAKES LARGEST LENSES