The Vitamine Manual | Page 8

distributed as follows
Vitamine A Fat-soluble Non-antineuritic Present in butter fat and
egg-yolk fat
Vitamine B (_Funk's vitamine_) Water-soluble Antineuritic Present in
protein-free milk, ordinary lactose, yeast and rice polishings
[Illustration: FIG. 2. COMPOSITE CHART OF OSBORNE AND
MENDEL PUBLICATIONS
These four charts all show the power of sources of the A vitamine to
bring about recovery after failure on diets lacking that vitamine.
I (from _Journ. Biol. Chem._, 1913-14, xvi, 423). In this group the diet
consisted of the following percents: Protein, 18; starch, 26; protein free
milk, 28; lard, 28. In the part of the periods marked butter, 18 per cent
of butter was substituted for an equal amount of lard.
II (from _Jour. Biol. Chem._, 1913, xv, 311). Shows recovery on
addition of butter fat to a diet containing all the nutrients and artificial
protein free milk. These diets contained the following percents: Protein,
18; lactose, 23.8; starch, 26; milk salts, 4.2; total fats, 28.
III (from _Journ. Biol. Chem._, 1915, xx, 379). These show the effect
of various sources of vitamine A such as egg fat, butter fat and
oleomargarine. The broken line parts show the failure of laboratory
prepared lard to better the commercial lard of the basal diet and the
crossed lines the immediate effect when a true source of vitamine A
was added. Basal diet: Protein, 18, protein free milk, 28; starch, 24-29;
lard, 7-28; other fats, 0-18.
IV (from _Journ. Biol. Chem._, 1913-14, xvii, 401). This chart shows
the failure of almond oil as a source of vitamine A and the prompt
recovery when butter fat or cod-liver oil was used. Basal diet: Edestin,
18; starch, 28; protein free milk, 28; lard, 8; almond oil or butter fat or

cod-liver oil, 18.]
With these points cleared up each nutrition investigator returned to an
analysis of his food mixtures and proceeded to the location in sources
of the various factors. The years 1912-1918 are mainly contributory to
further knowledge of the properties of these two vitamines, their
reactions, source, behavior, etc. In 1912, however, Holst and Fröhlich
began a study of scurvy that was to culminate later by adding to the list
a new member of the family, viz., vitamine "C."
The disease of scurvy and its prevention by use of orange juice potatoes,
etc., was a well known phenomenon and to the curative powers of lime
juice we owe the name "lime-juicers" as a synonym for the British
merchant marine.
Following his discovery of vitamine as the preventative substance to
beri- beri, Funk had outlined a theory of "avitaminoses" as the
responsible cause of several other types of diseases, including scurvy,
rickets, pellagra, and beri-beri. In other words, he suggested that the
etiology of these diseases would be found to lie in the lack of the
vitamine factors. His views at the time were largely hypothetical since
the only one of his avitaminose then demonstrated was beri-beri, but
the hypothesis attracted attention and developed a new method of study
as it had in matters of normal nutrition.
Between 1907 and 1912 Holst and Fröhlich had made exhaustive
studies of the causes of scurvy and had reached the conclusion that its
cause was due to the absence of some factor, admittedly unknown, but
as strongly indicated as in the case of beri-beri. Holst pointed out that a
guinea pig restricted to a diet of oats became affected with scurvy.
McCollum as well as others were attracted to this problem and in 1918
McCollum stated that scurvy was not due to a lack of a dietary factor
but to the absorption from the intestine of the poisonous products
resulting from abnormal decomposition of the food and especially of
protein food. He studied the guinea pig on an oat diet and drew the
conclusion that while it does induce scurvy this result is not due to the
absence of any specific factor in the oat diet. He showed that while the
oat kernel contains all the chemical elements and complexes necessary

for the growth and health of an animal these elements are not in
suitable proportions. It lacks certain mineral salts and its content of the
"A." vitamine is too low to permit oats alone to give satisfactory
growth results. Furthermore its proteins are not of as good quality as
those of milk, eggs, and meat. By merely supplementing the oat diet
with better protein, salts, and a growth promoting fat, he reported that a
guinea pig could be developed normally without further addition and
that therefore it was impossible to show that any unknown factor was
responsible for the scurvy symptoms. McCollum also reported that the
guinea pig could develop scurvy even when his diet was supplemented
with fresh milk and since milk was a complete food it followed that the
cause of the disease must