The Journal of experimental medicine
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It will be seen at once that the mean values obtained for calcium are higher than most of those recorded in the literature, and that the values for inorganic phosphorus are perhaps lower. It is well to bear in mind, however, that the significance that may be attached to any series of determinations of calcium and inorganic phosphorus in the blood of animals depends largely upon the conditions under which the determinations are made. As is well known, there are many factors that may affect the values obtained, including inherent differences in the animal material and the method of analysis used as well as the particular procedure employed in carrying out a given method. ⋯ Moreover, all groups show a large standard deviation and correspondingly high coefficients of variation, but combining the results for the 4 groups of animals gives a fairly uniform and symmetrical distribution, a striking feature of which is the high frequency with which values occur over the entire range of standard variation, that is, from ratios of 2.85 to 4.29. It thus appears that, despite the evidence of a tendency to the observance of an inverse relation between the calcium and inorganic phosphorus in the blood, the ratio of one substance to the other is by no means constant. By using the product and the sum as a basis of expressing the relation between calcium and inorganic phosphorus, the form of the relation is ???