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The single-grain experiment was an experiment carried out at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from May 1907 to 1911. Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The experiment tested if cows could survive on a single type of grain. The experiment would lead to the development of modern nutritional science. Nutrition (also called nourishment or aliment) is the provision to cells and Organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food to support

Contents

History

Foundations

In 1881, agricultural chemist Stephen M. Babcock returned to the United States after earning his doctorate in organic chemistry at the University of Göttingen, Germany to accept a position at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York where his first assignment was to determine the proper feed ratios of carbohydrate, fat, and protein from cow feces using chemical analysis. Year 1881 ( MDCCCLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties Stephen Moulton Babcock (1843–1931 was a US agricultural Chemist. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A doctorate is an Academic degree that indicates the highest level of academic achievement Organic chemistry is a discipline within Chemistry which involves the scientific study of the structure properties composition reactions, and preparation The University of Göttingen ( German: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) is a University in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station ( NYSAES) at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an integral part of the New York For other places with this name see Geneva. Geneva is a City in Ontario and Seneca counties in the Carbohydrates (from ' Hydrates of Carbon ' or saccharides ( Greek σάκχαρον meaning " Sugar " are the most Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water Proteins are large Organic compounds made of Amino acids arranged in a linear chain and joined together by Peptide bonds between the Carboxyl Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus His findings determined that the feces' chemical composition was similar to that of the feed with the only major exception being the ash. In Analytical chemistry, ash is the name given to all non- Aqueous residue that remains after a sample is Burned, and consist mostly of metal Oxides These results were tested and retested, and his results were found to be similar to German studies done earlier. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. This led Babcock to think about what would happen if the cows were fed a single grain (barley, corn, wheat) though that test would not occur for nearly twenty-five years. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica Wheat ( Triticum spp is a worldwide cultivated grass from the Levant area of the Middle East.

Seven years later, Babcock accepted a position at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Agricultural Experiment Station (UWAES) as chair of the Agricultural Chemistry department, and immediately began petitioning Dean of Agriculture William Henry, then station director, to perform the "single-grain experiment. Chemistry (from Egyptian kēme (chem meaning "earth") is the Science concerned with the composition structure and properties " Henry refused.

Babcock continued pressing Henry to perform the "single-grain experiment," even approaching the UWAES animal husbandry chair J. Animal husbandry, also called Animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding A. Craig (he refused). When W. L. Carlyle replaced Craig in 1897, Carlyle was more receptive to Babcock's idea. Initially trying a salt experiment with eight dairy cows as a matter of taste preference while eight other cows received no salt. Salt is a Dietary mineral composed primarily of Sodium chloride that is essential for Animal life but toxic to most land plants After one of the eight cows that did not receive salt died, Carlyle discontinued the experiment and all of the remaining cows were given salt in order to restore their health.

Henry, now Dean of Agriculture in 1901, finally relented and gave Babcock permission to perform the experiment. Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Carlyle approved the experiment with only two cows. One cow was fed corn while the other was fed rolled oats and straw with hopes the experiment would last one year. Three months into the experiment, the oat-fed cow died, and Carlyle halted the event to save the other cow's life. The results were not published mainly because Babcock did not list how much of each grain the respective cows had consumed.

In 1906, a chemist from the University of Michigan, Edwin B. Hart (1874–1953), was hired by Babcock. Year 1906 ( MCMVI) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting The University of Michigan Ann Arbor ( U of M, U-M, UM or simply Michigan) is a top-ranked Coeducational public research Edwin B Hart (1874-1953 was an American biochemist. A native of Michigan, Hart studied physiological chemistry under Albrecht Kossel Year 1874 ( MDCCCLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hart previously had worked at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, and had studied physiological chemistry under Albrecht Kossel in Germany. Physiology (from Greek grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the mechanical physical Ludwig Karl Martin Leonhard Albrecht Kossel ( September 16, 1853 &ndash July 5, 1927) was a German medical doctor Both worked with George C. Humphrey, who replaced Carlyle as animal husbandry professor, to plan a long-term feeding plan using a chemically-balanced diet of carbohydrates, fat, and protein instead of single plant rations as done in Babcock's earlier experiments. This article is primarily about the human diet For a discussion of animal diets see List of feeding behaviours. The "single-grain experiment" was thus born in 1907. Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year

The experiment

From May 1907 to 1911, the experiment was carried out with Hart as director, Babcock providing the ideas, and Humphrey overseeing the welfare of the cows during the experiment. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Edwin V. McCollum, an organic chemist from Connecticut, was hired by Hart to analyze the grain rations and the cow feces. Connecticut ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The experiment called for four groups of four heifers each during which three groups were raised and two pregnancies were carried through during the experiment. In mammals pregnancy is the period of Reproduction during which a Female carries one or more live offspring from Implantation in the uterus through The first group ate only wheat, the second group ate only bran, the third group ate only corn, and the last group ate a mixture of the other three. Bran is the hard outer layer of Grain and consists of combined Aleurone and Pericarp.

In 1908, it was shown that the corn-fed animals were the most healthy of the group while the wheat-fed groups were the least healthy. Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year All four groups bred during that year with the corn-fed calves being the healthiest while the wheat and mixed-fed calves were stillborn or later died. Similar results were found in 1909. Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting In 1910, the corn-fed cows had their diets switched to wheat and the non-corn-fed cows were fed corn. Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting This produced unhealthy calves for the formerly corn-fed cows while the remaining cows produced healthy calves. When the 1909 formulas were reintroduced to the respective cows in 1911, the same gestation results in 1909 occurred again in 1911. Year 1911 ( MCMXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year These results were published in 1911. Similar results had been done in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) in 1901, in Poland 1910, and in England in 1906 (though the English results were not published until 1912). See http//enwikipediaorg/wiki/WikipediaFootnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the tags and the template below The Republic of Indonesia ( (Republik Indonesia is a Country in Southeast Asia. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting

Aftermath

The experiment would lead to the development of nutrition as a science. Nutrition (also called nourishment or aliment) is the provision to cells and Organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food to support It would also lead to a determination that there were minerals and vitamins in food; that research would continue into the 1930s. Dietary minerals are the Chemical elements required by living Organisms other than the four elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and A vitamin is an Organic compound required as a Nutrient in tiny amounts by an Organism.

References

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