The Washington times., 1919-03-14
WTAMINES new
HEALTHDISCOvERY

'Get a good grip on this new word
vitamine, which you are going to hear
more and more about It's pretty
closely tied up to your health. says
Dr. H. z. Howe, prominent member
of the Northeastern section OF the
American Chemical Society. What Is
a vitamine? Well, it's rather difficult
to answer that straight out.
"Vitamine is the name given to. sub
stances as yet unidentified which
have the power to promote and sus-
tain body growth. Like electricity,
they have never been seen. We have
gained our present knowledge OF
electrical energy and the laws which
govern Il through observation Of
what IL does, and something 10 known
of the way in which 1t does 1t.
By painstaking research informa-
tion regarding what vitamines do has
been gained, but just how they ac-
complish the results remains some
what Of a mystery. 1t was observed
that in places where the people live
almost entirely upon polished rice
peculiar fatal disease, beri-bert, was
found, and that where rice formed
but a part of the diet there was no
such disease. Science set out to npd
why, and one OF the early expefi-
ments demonstrated that unpublished
rice not only prevented, but tended
to cure beri-beri.
VItanaInes az and HB."
Feeding experiments, using rats
and guinea pigs and pigeons, have
gone on ever since. and by the pro-
cess of elimination and later combine
tion of elements we now know that
an invisible substance is present In
certain foods, and II we do not have
them in our diet We cannot exist.
Further. there are two kinds Of vita
mines, to which, for want Of better
designations, have been given the
names fat soluble A and water solur
Bile B. Both are essential. The one
is found in butter fat and some other
animal fats, the yoke Of eggs, in liver
and certain vegetables. The other
occurs in yeast. milk, cereals, fresh
fruit and fruit juices, and often with
the fat soluble variety.
saThe practical application is that.
especially in the diet Of children. food
rich in vitamines must be included
and for all Of JUS a mixed diet Is eS-
sential. We suffer no injury IL in the
face of high butter prices we use pal
atable substitutes, because Americans
are fortunate in having a mixed dict
an hence many sources OF Vitamines.
vs. can supplement our food supply
by q more universal and constant use
OF dry skim milk, taking adVantaSe
thereby of cheap body building pro
tein. for our fat soluble vitamine will
be found in other items OF the aver
age diet. But a young child canEot
hannA
fundamental Importance of q propeT
milk supply. pure, rich, and not he
yond the purse of the less well-tO-do.
Here dry, whole milk plays its part,
for vitamines are not injured at the
temperature used in the best methods
Of drying.
Children Cried for Then.
When American relief. as repre-
sented by the Red Cross and other
organizations, reached Serbia and
Roumania the children were found to
be in a terrible state due to the lack
of vitamines as a result Of no milk
following the disappearance. OF the
herds. As an emergency measure a
mission is said to have undertaken
the considerable journey to Baltic
seaports, and to have returned laden
with cod liver oil. known TO be rich
in fat soluble vitamines. In Japan,
when children are run down chicken
liver are added to the food supply IN
quantity. In the Far East, unpublished
rice is being used to reduce beri-beri.
In France dry milk Is needed to the
extent of a ton a day from America,
that the French children may have
proper Vitamine- bearing food.
"And while chemists have so far
been unable to isolate and Identify
vitamines, there are numerous re-
searchers of the first rank who have
proved the existence OF such bodies
and their conclusions based on work
with lower animals are being con-
frmed by the experience of the race
at a time when babies and young
children are worth more than at any
other period in our history. In con-
tributing to our knowledge of what
is essential to proper growth biologi-
cal chemistry has placed US in its
TahF