Vitamin C Content of Hens’ Vital Organs after Long Continued Ascorbic Acid Injections

Abstract

WHILE there seems to be general agreement that only limited amounts of the water-soluble vitamins can be stored by the animal body, little is known concerning the rate of passage of these vitamins through the body. Earlier papers have reported data concerning the ascorbic acid content of the blood plasma of chickens and laying hens fed a normal poultry ration and of mature hens that received subcutaneous injections of ascorbic acid. In a study with rapidly growing Rhode Island Red chicks, fed a typical ration, Holmes, Tripp, and Satterfield (1938) found the ascorbic acid content of the plasma of eight weeks old chicks ranged from 1.56 mg. to 2.23 mg. with an average of 2.04 mg. percent and that of twelve weeks old chicks varied from 1.46 mg. to 2.43 mg. with an average of 2.05 mg. percent. There was no consistent relation between the values obtained for the two .