Nineteen samples of margarine were obtained from Illinois, Ohio and Nebraska. They were analyzed chemically and the vitamin A content of each one was compared with that of either sour-cream or sweet-cream butter. The fat content of the butter samples varied from 80.2 to 81.5 per cent, while the fat content of the margarine samples varied from 78 .3 to 89.2 per cent. From the results it was evident that these samples of margarine were very poor sources of vitamin A when compared with butter. One of the margarine samples caused an average gain of 10 grams per rat and another caused an average gain of 25 grams per rat when fed at the rate of 1 cc. daily for eight weeks. In every other case the rats fed margarine showed a final loss in weight and most of them did not survive the experiment. Butter was fed at a daily rate equal to one-tenth or one-twentieth of the quantity of margarine fed in all cases but one, and the rats survived and gained, the smallest gain averaging 45 grams and the largest 111 grams during the eight-weeks period.
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