The farmer and mechanic., 1915-03-16

it is possible to dle OF otai
while feasting, simply because lile
processes of assimilation nave SUN SUM-
how failed. Hence there IS a group
of so-called deficiency diseases or
diseases Of malnutrition, whose
causes have for years been very I'M
perfectly understood. 1t Is now as
serted that they are all due to lack,
in the food, of newly lsolateo
group Of nitrogenous compounds 70
which the name v1tamlneS mas
been given. Such obscure diseases as
heriberi and scurvy, and probably
also pellagra, ricketts,, and other SINH
lar maladies, are caused, We are told,
by lack of vitamines, and may pe
termed ''avitaminOses' We quote
from a recent article in the Blb1Othe-
Que Universelle Lausanne, Septem-
ber) by Or. Edward Combe. From
this We learn that DR.. Caslmlr Fun,
who made this discovery, was led TO
it by a prolonged study Of beriberi,
the serious malady which has been
especially fatal in Japan. DR.. Eyk-
mann, now professor Of hygiene at
Utrecht, but then located in Java,
made the discovery that /beriberi was
not found. among populations using
rice from which the outer covering
had not been removed, but did exist
where the covering was removed.
Other cereals prepared by such
decortication may produce similar
rnaladies. We read:
I'm Europe, where a. varied diet is
usual, beriberi has not been epidemic,
but it has been observed in
exceptional circumstances, among
others during the siege OF Paris
and when a too uniform diet was
adopted in institutions
Where nursing mothers lack
vitamines in their food their infants
may be attacked by q severe and
rapid form OF beriberi, whose
symptoms disappear when they are
fed by a healthy mother. Eykmann
! produced experimental berberi in
pigeons and chickens by giving them
| a uniform diet of polished rice, white
wheat flour, starch, or sugar. Little
| by little it became evident that ber-
beri could be Explained only. as due
to prolonged and exclusive use OF
| foods deprived Of substances indis-
pensable to the normal chemical
changes Of nutrition. Many scient-
lists at once addrest themselves to the
| task of discovering this indispensable
| element in. rice-bran. The result was
| the isolation Of the vitamines TIC
quote further:
Experiments on hundreds OF
pigeons suffering from experimental
polished rice. and apparently about
to succumb, demonstrated without
exception the remarkable activity o
the crystalliZed vitamines -Four OF
five milligrams injected under tn.
skin Of a dying pigeon cured it in two
or three hours with miraculous rap
idity, proving at once the imporatnc,
Of the vitamine and the phenomena
avldity with which the body absorb
and utilizes it,
AS for scurvy, another disease o
malnutrition, it is cured, as has lon,
been known, by fresh vegetables O
their juices. These, however, DR.
Combe tells us, often rapidly los
their activity. He writes:
Moderate cooking diminishes i,
and cooking at a temperature aboy
100 degrees c. destroys it when eve1
moderately prolonged. On the othe
hand, puree of potatoes or a bouil
{ Ion or carrots retain their activity i
spite Of cooking. :. Food
: olHer IN this respect Dried dande
non IS inactive, while dried cabbag
e Is still active, tho much less SO tina
y 1resh cabbage. Lemon juice retain
: compete activity even when cooke
e ana sterillzed. Hence the Juice q
! lemons and oranges is best. Cooke
mix loses part Of its activity. an
steflllzed milk nearly ALL
: The conclusion is that the vita
: mines which cure scurvy are 1nuc
| iess stable than those that cure ber
oer1. aitho the former may be trans
: termed into the latter bv chernics
e action. Another conclusion, perhar
more interesting to Americans tha
e eitner OF those recorded above, is thu
;, Wnlch classes pellagra among thes
= diseases of malnutrition. DR.. Comt
= aeciares 1T to be increasing in Ame,
1ca, Wnere the form it assumes is bot
le more acute and more fatal than els.
:, where. This, we are told, is due ,
q the superior machinery here. whic
,r more effectually decorticates -
IS gram. Students of the disease ha,
IS ascrlDed 1t variously to mold :
lungous growth in the grain, to j,
!. I i;aht ieGe,ous oacliil, and to the effect
ie ngnt on the skin, but Funk unhes
is tat1ngly classes it as a deficiencv-d;
le ease que TO the lack of vitamines. v