88. Q U A L I T A T I V E C H A R A C T E R I S T I C S O F T H E ElEAT A N I H A L

AS I N F L U E N C E O B Y P H Y S I O L O G I C A L M A T U R I T Y E Q U I V A L E N T S

J . JI. G U E N T H E R

I. Introduction

Before attempting t o suggest, describe or discuss any re la t ion- ship, d i r ec t cause and e f f ec t or otherwise, between qual i ty a t t r i b u t e s of t h e meat animal and physiological maturity, we need t o define these terms or a t l e a s t e s t ab l i sh c r i t e r i a for t h e i r respective de f in i t i on and/or assessment. This w i l l enable us t o coordinate our thinking and keep us i n the same b a l l p a r k , a t l e a s t , during the subsequent discussion which, it i s hoped, w i l l produce t h e grea tes t ult imate benef i t from t h i s presentation.

Now, we have a l l been exposed t o t h e terms "Quality" and "Physiological Maturity". and we a l l know precisely what i s meant by each term.

They a re i n common usage i n our area of ac t iv i ty , Or do we?

11. Qual i ta t ive Character is t ics of Meat Animals

Let 's begin our def in i t i ve chores with the term "Meat Quality" or a s the t i t l e suggests, "Qual i ta t ive Character is t ics of the Meat Animal",

This t e r m , of course, has various connotations, depending upon one's pos i t ion i n the meat Industry. To create some semblance of order, then, l e t ' s point out these various posi t ions or product qua l i ty l eve l s and suggest what "Quality" e n t a i l s a t each l eve l ,

F i r s t there i s the Live Animal Level. Which might a l so be cal led

When I posed t h i s question t o a f e w of our top Live Animal the Producer, Show Ring or Auction Ring leve l . What f ac to r s determine "Quality" here? Judges I got t h e impression t h a t qua l i ty a t t he Live animal l e v e l i s a ra ther vague en t i t y , which i s very has t i l y , subject ively and ind i r ec t ly assessed, i f a t a l l . Now I ' m not being c r i t i c a l of these Judges - I ' m simply implying t h a t "Quality Cr i te r ia" a t t h i s l e v e l a re extremely nondescript .

The following i s a synopsis of t he "Quality" f ac to r s considered a t the Live Animal

(1)

( 2 1

(3)

Level or i n t h e judging of market animals,

Type - Size f o r weight, s ty l e and eye appeal.

Soundness - No obvious defects, i .e . , crooked hind legs , e t c .

Expected carcass merit - involves an estimate of : ( a ) Expected cu tab i l i t y or yie ld of high-priced cuts ; muscle t o f a t re la t ionship; amount of bone, e tc . (b ) Expected qua l i ty i n the meat, This i s determined

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by estimating Carcass Grade, which i n tu rn i s estimated from the f a t content. The f a t content i s determined by estimating the f a t cover over the ribs and back (1/2" - 1" maximum). I s animal fat enough t o grade choice but not too f a t ?

Comments by Judges - "We recognize t h a t a prime carcass can have only .3" f a t cover, but t h i s i s t he exception ra ther than the rule . If an animal i s not f a t enough t o grade choice and appears t o be an excellent yielder of lean cuts, t he animal may be placed up."

I t 1 1

It appears t h a t a t t he Live Animal Level we a re guessing carcass grade and hoping t h a t t h i s w i l l suff ice a s f a r as eat ing qua l i ty i s con- cerned. Also, I bel ieve it i s obvious t h a t quantity i s a major considera- t i o n a t t h i s l e v e l and t h a t an assessment of Qual i ty i s accomplished only ind i r ec t ly and, a t bes t , i s obscured or confounded with the Quantity evaluation. Thus making, i n e f f ec t , quantity of lean, f a t , and bone an in t eg ra l fac tor of qua l i ty ,

Secondly, there i s the Carcass of Packer Level. include the Re ta i l Level here.

We might a l so

A s evidenced by the fac tors determined i n assigning a f ede ra l grade t o a carcass, qua l i ty a t t h i s l e v e l involves two major considerations. (1) An estimate of the yield of high priced cuts and the r a t i o of lean t o f a t . This i s done simultaneously when the ra t ing fo r Conformation i s given. ( 2 ) An evaluation of the po ten t i a l p a l a t a b i l i t y or eat ing qua l i ty of t he carcass. This i s accomplished by subjectively assessing and integrat ing the following fac tors : blaturity - a.s evidenced by ce r t a in charac te r i s t ics of bone and car t i lage ; Marbling - as evidenced by t h e amount and d i s t r ibu t ion of "flecks of f a t " i n the exposed longissimus dorsi , rectus abdominis, diaphragm, in t e rcos t a l and pec tora l muscles, as wel l as i n other s t r a t eg ic carcass locat ions, Finally, t he color, amount, textures and firmness of lean, usually assessed from the exposed longissimus do r s i muscle, i s considered. a re deemed "sat isfactory" the carcass can be quickly graded on the bas i s of t h e conformation, maturity and marbling rat ings. Curiously enough, these f ac to r s determined from t h e longissimus dorsi muscle can be object ively evaluated with some degree of precision. Yet they are of seemingly minor importance. With the exception of conformation, t h e aforementioned fac tors a re wel l understood and uniformly assessed. Also, de f in i t e l i m i t s are imposed upon these factors . i s practiced.

It might be pointed out t h a t i f these l a t t e r fac tors

Here again, however, considerable "hoping"

Notwithstanding the f a c t t h a t " h a 1 Grading" - which supposedly removes the Quant i ta t ive considerations from Qual i ty evaluation - i s avai lable and i s used t o a l imited degree, it seems t o me t h a t , taken a s a whole, t he industry int imately intermingles quantity w i t h qua l i t y a t t h i s l e v e l a l so .

Thirdly and l a s t l y , there i s the Consumer Level, which I l i k e t o divide i n t o (1) the uncooked or r e t a i l cut l eve l a n d m t h e cooked o r meat entree level .

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A t the r e t a i l - cu t consumer l e v e l the qua l i ty a t t r i b u t e s include:

I th ink tha t there r a t i o of lean t o ''waste f a t and bone"; color of lean; marbling; texture and firmness of lean; and odor (espec ia l ly i f unpackaged). i s a l so an assessment made here of t he water-holding capacity of the cut, but t h i s i s evaluated ind i r ec t ly as the amount of d r i p or exudate i n the package.

A t the cooked cut or meat entree l e v e l qua l i t y i s judged primarily i n terms of tenderness, juiciness , f lavorfulness and aroma. reason t o believe, however, t h a t the consumer a l so considers the color of t he cooked product, the water-holding capacity (again, t h i s i s i nd i r ec t ly assessed as, "shrinkage"), and the amount of "waste f a t and bone" remaining on the p la te .

There i s every

A s we r e f l e c t on these meat qua l i ty a t t r i b u t e s it becomes apparent t ha t , a t a l l product leve ls , t he quant i ty f ac to r o r r a t i o of lean t o f a t and bone i s , i n e f fec t , considered as an i n t e r g r a l pa r t of meat qua l i ty , muscle color and water holding capacity appear t o be important across-the- board considerations.

Also,

A s meat Sc ien t i s t s , our i m e d i a t e concern l i e s with the qua l i t y a t t r i b u t e s a t the consumer l eve l s , f ac to r s considered a t the l i v e animal and carcass l eve l s and consequently we cannot afford t o be d is in te res ted i n what i s being cal led "Qpality" a t these leve ls .

Yet, we are bound and t i e d by the

Our qua l i ty research a t the consumer l e v e l must be projected backwards and t i e d i n more closely with measureable a t t r i b u t e s a t these upper leve ls , i f we are going t o make s igni f icant progress.

When we consider the great number of fac tors , such as, breed, sex, age, s t r e s s , management regime, plane of nu t r i t ion , slaughter procedure, post-mortem handling and environment, anatomy of the cut, cooking method, e tc . , which can and do influence the qua l i ty of a meat product, doesn' t it seem a l i t t l e unfair t h a t the consumer's senory mechanism (a s var iable a s it i s ) only reac ts t o the product f o r a few f l e e t i n g moments? couple t h i s with the world population vs. avai lable farmland problem, the question a r i s e s , "Would we be b e t t e r of f i f we concentrated our e f f o r t s on improving the t o t a l quant i ty (of l ean ) and production eff ic iency i n our meat animals, then v i a post-mortem measures influence as favorably as we can product eat ing qual i ty? ' ' muscled animal a l so the qua l i t y animal?" mutually re la ted?

I f we

O r one might a l so ask, "Is t he e f f i c i e n t , wel l Are the determining f ac to r s

Le t ' s t u rn our a t t en t ion now t o physiological maturity.

111. Physiological Fmturitx

This term, along with i t s companions physiological age, chemical age and maturity i s frequently encountered i n meat and animal science areas , I ' v e of ten remarked t h a t i f one i s hard pressed t o explain an unusual experimental r e s u l t , he can always a t t r i b u t e it t o differences i n physio- l og ica l maturity, t a c t i c i s i n common usage.

And i f y o u ' l l scan the l i t e r a t u r e , y o u ' l l f ind t h a t t h i s

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I n attempting t o define and s e t l i m i t s on Physiological Maturity, I first conferred with a number of ''Pure" Physiologists. claimed t h a t they had never heard o r encountered the term used i n t h e i r area, and while admitting tha t one could probably es tab l i sh ce r t a in c r i t e r i a f o r i t s de f in i t i on and measure, they hastely, but graciously, excused themselves.

These fo lks

Subsequently, I polled a few Animal Sc ien t i s t s . They d i d o f f e r some suggestions but I got t he impression tha t physiological maturity was a ra ther abs t rac t , nondescript e n t i t y and tha t i f one asked - X people he would receive X d i f f e ren t ideas. -

I n checking with our Medical friends, I found tha t they too a re i n the same dilemma regarding human aging, Witness the following comments. "Throughowt 15 years of Conferences on aging sponsored by the Macy founda- t i o n we never came t o an agreement 2.s t o what i s meant by aging ....r. re a l l have only a vague idea of what we mean....The general consensus i s t h a t aging i s the progressive loss of functional capacity of an organism a f t e r it has reached reproductive puberty....Yet, some s teadfas t ly maintain t h a t aging commences with the onset of c e l l d i f fe ren t ia t ion . I '

Since the word physiological r e fe r s t o the healthy functioning of an organism and maturity denotes the s t a t e of being f u l l y developed, a bas ic de f in i t i on might be " that occasion i n a n animal 's l i f e when a l l components a re f u l l y developed and functioning i n a normal, healthy manner. Thus, physiological maturity i s a function of age.

Unfortunately, a l l components of t he animal do not reach t h i s point simult,aneously, and i n t h i s animal t o animal, organ t o organ var iab i l - i t y l i e s the d i f f i c u l t y i n assessing physiological maturity. A ca l f might be considered physiologically mature as soon a s it i s capable o f function- ing as a ruminant, s t a t e . m a x i m u m work.

Certainly the hear t must mature during the embryonic Whereas, a muscle might not be considered mature u n t i l it can perform

This gives r i s e t o many questions such as, what i s normal? abnormal? What does f u l l y developed mean? Is it the point a t which the synthesis of pro te in i s f o r repa i r m d maintenance ra ther than f o r growth? Perhaps we can reconcile these d i f f i c u l t i e s , as a conference, during the discussion period.

The question might even a r i s e as t o the advisabi l i ty of expending considerable research time i n defining and elucidating physiological maturity. I bel ieve t h a t the obvious reply i s yes - i f we can ult imately control or influence it t o our advantage. O f course, t h i s w i l l remain unknown u n t i l t h e t a sk i s undertaken. If the task i s broached and f a i l u r e encountered, then we've simply had some wonderful academic exercise. say the green l i g h t should be on, so l e t ' s proceed.

Either way, I l d

Where do we s t a r t ? Well, it seems obvious t h a t we cannot begin the quest with the i n t a c t animal, per se, because it i s too complex. we need t o subdivide the animal, logical ly , so t h a t When we a t tack the problem with massed i n t e l l e c t u a l a r t i l l e r y , our e f f o r t s w i l l a t l e a s t be coordinated. I bel ieve t h a t a l og ica l d iv is ion of t he animal would be on t h e bas i s of i t s major t i s sues a s follows:

Thus,

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Epi the l i a l t i s s u e - simple and s t r a t i f i e d - Their function i s t o cover the body surface, l i n e body cavi t ies , and t o form the ac t ive pa r t s of glands.

Connective t i s s u e - General function i s t o bind other t i s s u e s together. They a l so lend form and s t rength t o organs and serve f o r protect ion and leverage. Types of connective t i s s u e are: ( b ) E la s t i c - or yellow c. t . ; cushioning ( i . e . around blood vesse ls ) ; - framework of ce r t a in organs; ( e ) Adipose c . t . - f a t ; ( f ) Carti lage - hyaline, e l a s t i c , f ib rocar t i lage ; ( h ) Bone - cancellous ( spongy), compact bone.

( a ) Collagenous - White f ibrous; ( c ) Aerolar - provides

( d ) Reticular c. t .

Fluid Tissue - Functions i n the t ransportat ion of nu t r ien ts and waste products.

Muscular t i s s u e - Work, special ize i n contract ion - smooth, s t r i a t ed .

Nervous t i s s u e - Conduct nerve impulses.

( A cut of meat can include a l l of these) .

What do we invest igate about these t i s sues? Well, we are in te res ted i n t h e i r amount, and physical and chemical makeup; haw they a re a l t e r ed during growth and development of t he animal; changes with time; and the influence of various treatment st imuli , a s wel l a s breed and sex differences. these l i nes , but not with the in t en t of ident i fying a physiological maturity end point. Also, much of t h i s work i s confounded with many other var iables; consequently s t r a igh t - l i ne e f f ec t s a r e d i f f i c u l t , i f not impossible, t o determine.

I might add t h a t much research has been conducted along

I V . Possible Physiological Maturity Indeces

Let us now review some measures which have been suggested or might be suggested t o assess physiological maturity. We are in te res ted i n the change-rate curves of t he following e n t i t i e s and would have t o e s t ab l i sh t h i s f o r each specie.

(1) Hexoseamine: Collagen r a t i o - I n s tudies on the growth of collagen and mucopolysaccharides of the femur and skin ( r a t s ) during aging, it was observed t h a t the r a t e of deposit ion of collagen exceeded t h a t of the mucopolysac- charides (determined a s hexoseamine).

( 2 ) Suscept ib i l i ty of E la s t in f i b e r s t o enzyme o r chemical Hydrolysis - During maturation collagen f i b e r s degrade t o form a mater ia l def ic ien t i n Hydroxproline, which gives r i s e t o e l a s t i n f i b e r s which a re susceptible t o enzyme hydrolysis.

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Ketosteriod: Corticoid r a t i o - Adrenal cor t icoids have an anti-anabolic action. u l a r organs a re anabolic. Urinary androgens diminish with age, while t he excretion of cor t icoids i s l e s s affected by age.

Androgens of t he adrenal and t e s t i c -

Changes i n a c t i v i t y of Respiratory enzymes, cytochrome and succinic oxidases.

Especially

Changes i n insoluble and soluble proteins . These change with aging, but t he ex t rac t ion conditions must be r i g i d l y specif ied.

Water: p ro te in r a t i o . with age while t he pro te in content increases.

Water content of muscle decreases

Albumin: globulin r a t io . Increases with age.

Changes i n pro te in content of blood. i n i t i a l increase followed by a period of slow change.

There i s a rapid

Changes i n dimensions of various anatomical un i t s , i .e. sarcomere, fascicula , e tc .

Closing of epiphyseal p l a t e s . This controls t he amount of long bone growth and i s affected by female hormones.

Other bone charac te r i s t ics , i .e., hardness, chemical composition e tc .

Weight of eyeballs. maturation of w i l d animals,

This has been used i n s tudies on the

Protein charac te r i s t ics of the I r is . Could be determined v i a electrophoresis.

Nuclear number. might be determined when the parameters of nuclear number ( a s D.N.A.) show no s igni f icant increase.

A n end point of physiological maturity

No doubt, each of you could add t o t h i s l i s t . Whether any or a l l of these measures would prove t o be va l id from o u r viewpoint i s B matter of conjecture. Perhaps, as a conference, we could resolve t h i s . me t h a t the f irst thing we should do i s t o e s t ab l i sh ce r t a in c r i t e r i a f o r an index of physiological maturity.

It seems t o

V. C r i t e r i a for an index of Physiological Maturity

I n order for a phenomenon t o serve as a measure of physiological maturity it should possess the following charac te r i s t ics .

(1) We must be able t o measure it with a high degree of precision. the e n t i t y on the l i v e animal.

It would be desirable i f we could determine

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It must change with maturity ( t ime) and be d i r e c t l y associated with the maturing process (cause and e f f e c t re la t ionship) .

The change ( i n 2 ) must be i r r eve r s ib l e o r proceed i n only one d i r ec t ion under normal circumstances.

The change must occur within c e r t a i n time l i m i t s (8-24 months f o r c a t t l e , shorter span f o r sheep and hogs). This could be a major problem.

It must be representat ive of t he whole ra ther than a pecu l i a r i t y of a par t .

V I . Qual i ta t ive Character is t ics and Animal Maturity.

Now t h a t we have reviewed some aspects of the terms Qual i ty and Physiological Maturity, I ' d l i k e t o spend these l a s t few minutes, i n summarizing some of the research on the influence of maturity ( i n most cases age)on meat qual i ty . I have omitted the adject ive Physiological here because I do not bel ieve t h a t t h i s e n t i t y has been prec ise ly iden t i f i ed i n the works I have studied. However, I do think t h a t it has been closely approximated i n the researcn u t i l i z i n g bone cha rac t e r i s t i c s as the c r i t e r i a f o r maturity.

1. Ratio of lean t o f a t - Since we've sa id t h a t qua l i ty includes quantity, l e t ' s begin here. This r a t i o changes w i t h increases i n body weight and age. ce r t a in point i n t h e animal's development o r maturation. Our data show t h i s t o be a t ea. 75# of body weight or 10-11 months of age, or when about 87% of the lean po ten t i a l i s deposited. a l t e r s t he r a t e of change (1-3 months - depending on r a t ion ) . change w i l l be very s imilar .

It becomes smaller and l e s s desirable a f t e r a

Level of n u t r i t i o n simply Total

2. Color of lean - The appearance of the cut meat surface depends upon the quantity, and chemical and physical s t a t e of i t s protein- aceious pigment myoglobin. Color i s o f ten expressed a s Hue, Chroma, and Value, and may be influenced by a var ie ty of fac tors , both ante - and post-mortem. (Specie, breed, sex, age, anatomical locat ion of cut, exercise, nu t r i t i ona l level , marbling, e tc . ) The ante-mortem fac tors control t he amount of pigment, while t he post-mortem fac to r s determine i t s chemical or physical s t a t e .

I n general, beef becomes darker a s maturity advances, The red- ness of Hue increases with age but t he Value o r brightness tends t o decrease. found influence on color r e s u l t s .

I n many s tudies the intra-muscular f a t content has had a pro-

3. Marbling - When we consider nutr ient demand during growth and development, t h a t i s 1st f o r bone, 2nd f o r muscle, 3rd f o r f a t , it would seem t h a t deposit ion of intra-muscular f a t s would d e f i n i t e l y be re la ted t o animal maturity. The ac tua l influence of marbling, per se, on meat p a l a t a b i l i t y i s the subject of much debate. fluence of marbling, a s a separate en t i t y , has ever been adequately elucidated.

I do not f e e l t h a t the in-

4. Water holding capacity - Since it a f f ec t s the appearance of t he meat before cooking, i t s behavior during cooking, and i t s ju ic iness a f t e r cooking, t he WHC of meat i s very important. Many fac tors , such as, specie, age, muscle function, P.K glycolysis and ult imate pH have been shown t o a f f ec t W C . I n general IdHC diminishes a s t he animal matures.

5. Juiciness - There has been much difference of opinion con- cerning t h i s qua l i t y a t t r i b u t e and i t s influence by age o r maturity. Some workers report a.n increase i n juiciness with maturity or age, while others report opposite r e su l t s . I believe tha t t h i s conf l ic t i s due t o t h e f a c t t h a t juiciness i s influenced not only by t o t a l moisture but a l so by f a t , aroma, f lavor . Thus while a young animal may have more t o t a l moi s t ure sa l ivary

de f in i t e due t o a increase however, de t r a c t s

study of

it doesn ' t have the f a t and consequently aroma t o st imulate the glands for a sustained "juicy sensation".

6. Flavor and aroma - Apparently animal age o r maturity has a enhancing e f f ec t on f lavor and aroma. This, however, could be la rge extent on the increased f a t content of older animals. i n f lavor with advanced maturity i s not a s t r a igh t l ined event, and there i s a point (18-24 mos.) beyond which age ac tua l ly from f lavor .

The

7. Tenderness - Perhaps more e f f o r t has been expended i n the t h i s e lusive cha rac t e r i s t i ? than any other qua l i ty a t t r i bu te .

Tenderness i s influenced by a l l other qua l i ty a t t r i bu te s , e i t he r d i r e c t l y o r ind i rec t ly , as well as by the s t a t e or archi tecture of many anatomical t i s sues . I n general tenderness decreases with age o r maturity, but, t h i s decrease i s by no means s t r a igh t l ined.

The conf l ic t ing r e s u l t s which appear i n the l i t e r a t u r e on qua l i ty research a re t o be expected, of meat, as wel l as the fac tors influencing them, have never been prec ise ly determined. The xajor d i f f i c u l t y stems from the f ac t t h a t no one a t t r i b u t e has ever been assessed independently of another. Perhaps t h i s i s impossible. Thus s t a t i s t i c a l methods must be u t i l i z e d t o remove the influence of a '1co- var iable;" and i n so doing we introduce another problem. each var iable with the same degree of precis ion or accuracy. Thus, the mathematical correct ion may be inval id , from a b io logica l standpoint.

For, many of the qua l i ty a t t r i b u t e s

We cannot assess

The problem b o i l s down t o t h e fa.ct t ha t we simply do not know enough about the behavior of t h e animal during growth and development. Also, our methodology - Physical, Chemical, and S t a t i s t i c a l - needs t o be coordinated. To me, t h e coordination of research e f f o r t should be one of the major functions of our association.

One of t he things t h a t has ser iously hampered Qual i ty research has been the f ac t t h a t it has been a by-product of nu t r i t i on and genetic experi- ments. This has caused much confounding of t h e var iables which a re of i n t e r e s t t o t he meat s c i en t i s t . If we are r e a l l y going t o answer our ques- t ions on qua l i t y and physiological maturity, we must work from the ground up. We need t o s e t aside a breeding herd and produce and manage the animals so t h a t we have t h e basic experimental un i t s necessary t o study animal behavior during growth and development and t o adequately assess and r e l a t e animal qua l i ty a t t r i b u t e s and physiological maturity.

96 . DR. ZINN: To lead the discussion t h i s afternoon, I have

I ' m sure he w i l l f i e l d the questions t o the r igh t person t o asked, D r . J. L. McBee, West Virginia University, t o be your discussion leader. answer them a t t h i s time. Jim.

DR. McBEE: Harold has presented a review paper covering a wide range of work which has been done on meat animal growth and composi- t ion , pointing out the way we have been going i n t h i s type of work. J i m has covered qua l i t a t ive relat ionships of meat animals as influenced by physiological maturity, and during h i s presentat ion has ra ised a number of i n t e re s t ing questions. These two speakers pointed out t o me before they began the session t h a t t h i s was t o be a period of reciprocat ion not of interrogat ion. would l i k e t o receive opinions of anybody, questions t h a t anybody i n the audience has and t o r e a l l y r a i s e some discussion during the a l l o t t e d time. 'who has the f irst question or comment?

However, we

DR. HUFFMAN: There was a question raised a t the recent conference a t the University of Missouri t h a t has bothered me and I ' v e discussed it with several others. on it very b r i e f ly . You may remember the discussion. It centered around the problem, i s body water i n a normal "physiologically mature" animal a constant?

I wonder i f you would speak

DR. GUENTHER: I'll answer you t h i s way. The distinguished group t h a t attended t h a t conference d idn ' t come t o a decision on t h i s , and I don' t think I can. Laugh.

DR. McBEE: I th ink t h a t answers your question. Who has the next question? Anybody have any comments t o make?

MR. SULZEACHER: I hate t o see the afternoon ge t t ing so d u l l so, I ' m going t o ask a fool i sh question. i n measuring physiological maturity? (Laugh).

Why a re we in te res ted

DR. GUENTHER: Foolish questions deserve a fool i sh answer. Like the o ld Prof. a t Oklahoma S ta t e did one time when he asked an individual how he placed a c l a s s of hogs. Kid says, "Well, Prof., what do you think about it?" Prof. says, "I don' t think, I knowlll Kid says, "I don' t th ink I know ei ther ." (Laugh), I bel ieve i f you r e f l e c t upon t h a t which i s sa id i n j e s t , there may be a l o t of t r u t h i n it. But as I t r i e d t o point out i n my par t of the presentation, B i l l , we won't know whether i t ' s worthwhile u n t i l we can assess it and run some relat ionships . I bel ieve t h a t ' s the way w e ' l l have t o leave it.

DR. McBEE: Who e l s e has something t o comment on? If there a r e n ' t a l o t of questions or comments a t t h i s time, we w i l l t u r n the program back over t o President J. W. Cole. (Applause).

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