Studies were made to explore the retention, metabolic products, and rate of progesterone in the peripheral blood of cow and ewe following subcutaneous injection of progesterone. In them, these cows and an ewe were ovariectomized and used. Two gram of non-labelled progesterone and 50 μCi (286 μg) of ¹⁴C-progesterone were combined and suspended in oil. The resultant suspension was injected subcutaneously to two cows. In them, the radioactivity in the blood showed an increase until the 4th hour following injection, then a rapid decrease to the 9th and 12th hour, and a more gradual decline to the 24th and 36th hour, respectively. There was a considerable difference in the blood level of the injected progesterone between the two cows. One cow showed a level almost twice or more as high as that shown by the other. The cause for such difference was not known but it was assumed that there might be a difference in absorption of progesterone from the site of injection, the ability of the liver to eliminate the hormone or uptake of the hormone by fat tissue between these cows. Determination by a gas liquid chromatography indicated the presence of 1.15 and 1.77 μg of progesterone per 100 ml of plasma in cows 496 and 602, respectively. A total of 0.38 μg per 100 ml of 20β-o1 was isolated from a combined sample of plasma collected from the two cows. A sample collected from each cow appeared to contain a few metabolites which were too little to be determined by the method employed. The third cow (No. 202) was injected subcutaneously with 75 μCi (ca. 500 μg) of ¹⁴C-progesterone, and 600 ml of blood plasma was with drawn from it at the 4 th hour post injection. The plasma sample was subjected to column chromatography, solvent partition, and finally thin layer chromatography for the separation of progesterone and the metabolites, if any. Only progesterone and 20β-o1 were noted apparently to be present. A few other metabolites also appeared to be contained in the sample, but they were too little to be determined by the method used. In the two cows injected with about 2 g of progesterone, the recovery of progesterone in the venous blood was approximately 1/1, 000, 000 to 1/2, 000, 000 per 100 ml of plasma. It was, however, about 1/200, 000 of the injected hormone recovered, when a very small does was given by the subcutaneous route to a cow. This difference in recovery rate in the venous blood amounting to 5 to 10 times may have been induced by the difference in size of dose used. There was also a small difference in the ratio of progesterone to 20β-o1 in the blood, when these different doses had been given. This ratio was approximately 100:13 and 100:10 (or less than 10), at the 4th hour following injection. To an ovariectomized ewe, 20 μCi of ¹⁴C-progesterone was injected subcutaneously. Progesterone and 20α-o1 seemed to be present in a sample collected from the ewe at the 3rd hour, but no other metabolites could be picked up by the TLC separartion. The ratio of progesterone and 20α-o1 was approximately 100:5.

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In order to pursue the visceral migration in the body of the cat, Ancylostoma tubaeforme and A. caninum larvae were examined for distribution among the organs apd stage of development in cats artificially infected. The results are summarized as follows. 1. When inoculated orally into cats, A. tubaeforme larvae were recovered from the digestive tract continually for a long period. They showed development in the body length and stage in the intestinal contents; they reached the fifth stage eventually. From any other organ of cats, however, larvae were scarcely recovered. 2. When inoculated subcutaneously into cats, A. tubaeforme larvae began to disappear from the skin or muscle soon after infection. On and after the second day, the larvae began to be recovered from the digestive tract. On the seventh day, many of them began to be recovered only from the intestinal contents. Larvae harbored in the intestinal contents developed continually in body and reached the fifth stage at last. On the other hand, larvae were recovered from the lung, trachea, and esophagus in comparatively large numbers, but they revealed development in length. 3. When inoculated orally into cats, A. caninum larvae disappeared gradually from the digestive tract. They began to be recovered from the mesentery, lung, trachea, and esophagus. Then, they were recovered from the muscle in a mass continually for a long time. These recovered larvae, however, showed no development at all in body length or stage. They were presumed to have performed the somatic migration mainly. 4. When inoculated subcutaneously, A. caninum larvae were recovered from the skin and muscle in large numbers continually for a long time. Nevertheless, neither their length nor stage manifested any development. From the digestive tract, however, no worms were recovered throughout the experimental period, while a few larvae were recovered from the lung, trachea, and esophagus. 5. Whichever route, oral or subcutaneous, might be adopted for the artificial infection of cats, A. tubaeforme larvae were harbored mostly in the digestive tract and developed in length and stage only in the presence of the intestinal contents. The remainder of the larvae, which had been harbored in other organs than the digestive tract, accomplished the exsheathment, though their development was cedsed at the third stage. From these facts, the cat was considered to be one of the normal hosts for A. tubaeforme. 6. Whichever route, oral or subcutaneous, had been adopted for the artificial infection of cats, A. caninum larvae were harbored mostly in the muscle, and never in the digestive tract. The larvae never developed in body length or stage, however long had they stayed in the body of the cats or whichever organ had they parasitized. Therefore, the cat might be regarded as an abnormal host for A. caninum.

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The morphology of the adult worm and the egg of Toxascaris leonina was studied comparatively with parasites obtained from dogs, cats, tigers, and cheetahs. Several considerable differences were observed. The disparity between the canine and feline strains was the largest, and the values determined in the tiger and cheetah strains were found in between. Noticeable points are summarized as follows. 1. The body length and width in the canine strain were the greatest. There were statistically significant differences (at a 1% level) in these points between this strain and the other three Felidae strains. 2. The esophagus/body length ratio was the lowest in the canine strain. There was a significant difference in this ratio between the canine strain and any of the other three Felidae strains, except the tiger strain in the case of females. 3. The vulvae were situated more backward in the other three Felidae strains than in the canine strain. 4. The width of the cervical alae was greater in the feline strain than in the canine strain. There was a distinct difference in the width/length ratio of the cervical alae between the two strains. 5. The egg of the canine strain was the largest in size, especially in length, and that of the tiger strain the smallest of those of the four strains.

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Normal adult cat serum was analyzed by electrophoretic and immunoelectrophoretic techniques. Conventional five protein fractions were identified by paper electrophoresis, six by cellulose acetate electrophoresis, at least nine, including some weak bands, by agar gel electrophoresis, and 23 by immunoelectrophoresis. Some specific staining characteristics of the precipitin lines were investigated. A standard system of nomenclature was proposed to identify the antigenic components revealed by immunoelectrophoresis and compare them with the bands observed in human serum by electrophoresis. The number of antigenic components and their characters were very similar among human, dog, and cat sera, especially between dog and cat sera, although there were differences in electrophoretic mobility among the three sera. On the other hand, there was immunologic cross reactivity between human and cat sera, or dog and cat sera. In addition, the sera of cats, including fetuses, the newborn, and adults, were analyzed, It was of interest to note that variation in the γ-globulin fraction with the advance in age was somewhat similar between cat serum and the dog serum examined in the previous study.

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