Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-02

! playing a prominent part
Diseases of In the world wide investi-
| rr cations by science into the
| ao"' fascinating and hitherto
little-understood field Of nutritional
diseases. with their fellow investi-
gators in many countries they are do
ing much toward running down and
isolating the elusive ''vitamines" whose
existence even was not suspected ten
years ago. but on the presence Of which
in a diet the health of consumers Is
now generally believed by specialists
in nutrition to depend.
One Of the principal so-called nu-
tritional deficiency diseases'is beribert.
the prevalence of which In the Philip
pines has afforded American scientists
| an excellent opportunity for study. The
work by scientists of this country be-
gan in Manila. under Chamberlin and
Vedder of the United States Army Med
| mental United States. where 1t is being
pursued by A. Seidell and other work
ers Of the public health service and
| by R. r. Williams Of the bureau Of
chemistry Of the Department Of Agri-
culture.
For many years chemists and physi-
up only of the we'll known groups:
Carbohydrates. proteins. fats. etc. The
development Of scurvy and beriberf.
however. when certain diets were per-
sisted In led finally to the belief that
there must exist some additional sub
stance the absence of which from a
diet interfered greatly with the normal
machinery Of assimilation and nutri-
ton. In 1912 an investigator in London
named Funk definitely announced his
belief in the existence of the sub
stances. partially isolated them and
named them ''vftamines." His hypothe-
sis received general acceptance. and a
search for the substances has been in
progress ever since
The connection of beriberi with an
exclusive diet of rice was early OBJ
served in the eastern countries. but it
was not recognized until relatively re-
Gently that the i'll effects were not due
to the rice diet in itself. but to the
fact that some essential substance had
been removed from the grain In the
dark. starchv outer coating or polish
ings." This has been proved conclusive
ly bv the success that the American in
vestiEators in Manila have had in treat
ing many cases Of beriberi with an ex-
tract Of rice polishinRs.
physicians in Manila Is that the nu-
tritional deficiency in beriberi extends
to the milk of nursing mothers affiicted
with the disease. and so transmits the
maladv to infants in form known as
infantile beriberi. The disease is so
widespread among mothers in Manila
that II reverses the usual condition as
to infant mortality. so that actually
fewer babies die among the group fed
on bottles than among the group nor
mally fed. The discovery Of remedy
that is more ~ff~ctiYe than concen-
trated rice poliehinRs and above ALL
which shall retain it's remedial powers
for long periods is the principal object
Of the governments vitimine investi-
cations.
One of the interesting phases of the
investigations to the layman ia that
pigeons are used in the experiments in
stead OF guinea pigs. the almost uni
versal governmental animal This is be-
cause for some unknown reason pi-
icons are extremely susceptible to
foods lacking in vftan1ines and will de-
veloD the disease which corresponds to
beriberf in humans in from ten to
treatment the disease will develop in
guinea pigs only after MANY weeks In
the hyeieni" laboratory of the public
health service and in the bureau of
chemistry dozens Of pigeons are kept
In special cages and NAV he seen usu-
ally in various stages Of the disease
In an attempt TO produce a specific
~emedy for nutritional diseases that
may be cheapIy prepared and kent by
pharmacists. Anterior Seidell Of the
public health service has recently
evolved a method Of preparine a solu-
ton rich in vtamines and then absorb
ing the active substances out of the
solution In concentrated form nv an
inert material. fnl1ers' earth. This II
was proved. greatly reduces tn. amount
Of specific that must he administered
IN dose and 80 simplifled treatment
In these experiments brewers Yeast re-
atv~sr L.
duction Of heer was used. and was
found to be cheap and rich in vitamines.
r. r. Williams of the bureau Of
chemistry has given mora attention TO
the chemistry Of vitamines. perhaps.
than any other Investigator, and Is
one of the few men who has definite
ideas as to the nature Of the vital food
elements. He believes that a number
Of different substances p1aks up the
vitamin~ sroup and that they are some
what related TO proteins though much
simpler in form. One of the most in
terestin1 phases OF Mr.. williams work
is the fact that he has been able to
evolve alphabetically substances which
the vitamine- carrying substances con-
centrated from foods None Of these
synthetic vitamines" are wholly sta BILE.
though Some Of them are more nearly
so than others.
It 10 believed. however. that the ex-
periments will ultimately lead to dis
covsries that will make possible the
manufacture of stable specifics for all
the nutritional diseases. Physicfans be-
lieve that II a specific remedy for beri-
beri may he made in this way II will
not be dificult to produce a specific
for pellaS ra. also a nutritional disease
The work Of the government scientists
along these lines has progressed so
far at any rate that they are hopeful
that before long they may be able
to minimize the effects Of these dis
eases, the ravaGes of which are con-
centrated particularly on the poor Of
the world.
/. Inducing his citizens to turn waste
materials into valuable products is a
hobby with Uncle
By Products Of Sam. for he sees that
Forestry. dollars in the ar
sregate can thus be added to the ma
tional wealth. Few Of the government
agencies have SO great an opportunity
in this field as the forest service. for
the lumber industry has been notori-
ously prodigal in its waste. In addi-
ton to the many successful steps that
have been taken by the service to en-
courage the utilization of waste woods
after the logs reach the mills. the for
est service has recently gone closer
to the beginning of the industry with