Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-12
The Invaluable Vitamine
BY Frederic J. Haskin.


sponsible in great measure for the break
down in health which now aftlicts Euro
pean countries is the opinion OF many
health experts. The fall in the birth rate,
especially, they say, Is due to lack oil
vitamincs, which are believed to be neces-
sary to proper functionng oil the re-
productive processes.
The Importance of vitamines as an
element of diet is being constantly en-
phasized by the experiments which scien-
lists are making with them, and every
one ought TO understand the important
place which these substances occupy In ms
vital economy, and how to insure that ms
diet contains enough of them.
Bv way of defnition-vitamines are
accessory substances" which occur III
some foods, besides protein and the o1her
elements, and which are essential TO
health, even to life. The exact nature OF
vitamines is still very obscure.
A Red Cross doctor tells of children IN
Roumania who were existing on nothihs
hut little corn meal and very thin brah
and vegetable soup Some had eye diseas-
es some were blind, some had swollen
limbs. all were pitifully thin. The doctor
heard of a ship at Archangel with cargo
of codliver oil. He arranged to take over
the cargo and added little OF the oil to
the childrens' ration with remarkable
effect. The codliver oil contained vltam-
ines which were lacking IN the other iood.
Milk or eggs would have achieved the
same result in more pleasu able way,
but TO the starving city, hsh OIL was wei
come.
Through careful attention to balanced
rations. Denmark, of all the European
countries, has best survived the war.
Following the advice of her food experts,
Denmark killed off about two-thlrds OF
her cattle at the beginning Of the war, to
avoid feeding them. She gave up her
white bread for whole wheat and rye
which contained the vitamines lacking IN
white -four She planted huge potato
crops, for potatoes contain vItamLnes
and other valuable food elements. he
result has been that in the face OF block
ades and shortages the Danes have -four
ished. while other nations less scientific
ally managed are suffering IRON diseases
Of malnutrltion.
MANY HERE SUFFER.
Pellagra, beri-beri scurvy, sound like
diseases Of the Philippine bush. Yet they
are all over Europe. 1t is harder still to
realize that over 100. 900 persons IN the
supposedlv well-fed United States con
tract pellagra every year, from d'et de-
fcient in yitamines, and that cases Of
scurvv among both adults and infants run
/ still higher. This is true even with Federal
/ State and local health authorities actively
engaged in teaching the people the I'M
portance Of eating wholesome TODD IN
/ balanced dict.
+ Thousands Of our children, badly fed,
4 children Of the poor and middle classes
/ alike. are growing up to swell the ranks OF
/ the detectives, the stupid, the sick: these
4 children may be gorged with food az
1 home. but, because Of ignorance OF dlete-
4 tics. elements necessary 70 growth and
/ health are lacking. In some cases a glass
/ of milk. or in other cases an orange, or the
4 juice Of a tomato, added 10 the menu each
day would supply the vltamine dehclency-
Scientists are not in accord on many
+ theories about the rather elusive vitamInes,
bit thev all agree as to the Importance OF
4 those substances. Men of science all over
I the world are making vltamlne studies.
f One chemist has Just announced that, so
/ far az its vitamine content Is concerned,
ounce for ounce Juice Is more valuable as
I food than milk Other scientists are MAX
/ inq tests to find out whether the important
4 substances are cooked out Of existance IN
4 the highly heated commercially canned
4 foods while others are trying desperately
i to isolate one little vitamlne so that they
can tell the world exactly what it looks
4 like.
CORN CONTAINS vITAMTNEs,
yitamines first came into the limelight
about 1911, though four years before that
+ their existence was suspected At that
time food was regarded as consisting only
+ ~ nrotein. carbohydrate, fat, mineral and
water. Then came a series Of experiments
with cattle in which the animals were led on
one kind of grain only. Some were gwen
! only corn. some only wheat, some only
oats. Mvsteriously, the cows eating corn
/ alone remained much more healthy on the
monotonols feed than those fed other
grains. Now, science knows that corn
/ contains a larger amount OF vltamlne.
/ Then. the fact was simply noted that corn
/ seemed to have something in 1t which the
/ other cereals lacked.
! Later DR.. Casinir Funk of London was
/ stlldving beri-beri. an Oriental disease. II
/ had long been noticed that the natives
/ who lived on unpolished rice suffered from
/ beri-beri. while those who ate brown, IN
1 husked rice, did not. DR.. Funk fed some
of the sufferers the polishings removed
from the rice and they recovered. de
| analvzed the husk and found something
which he called vitamine, from the Latin
word for llfe.
Since then various fruits and vegetables
and other foods have been tested for
vjtarnines. Some contain them, others do
not Just what vitamines are Is still OBJ
sc1re. but three kinds Of vltamlnes are
known. namely. "fat soluble A, water
soluble B. :" and water soluble G." All
three are necessary TO life. 1t was A which
was so plentiful in the cod liver oil fed 70
the Rournanian children. A also occurs IN
milk. butter, cheese, and IN cabbage,
spinach and other greens. Some scientists
say that the large amount Of vitamlne A IN
milk and butter is transmitted TO them
from the grass eaten by the COW, and
that all vitamines have their origin IN
nlant life Vitamine A Is present IN oleo-
margarine made from animal fats and
oils. but there is almost none III nut mar
garines ~
There is little Of vitamine B in milk and
meat but it is found in almost all common
vegetables and in grains. G Is the vltam-
inc that helps TO make fresh ir'ut 50
valuable food. 1t is also present IL
green vegetables and to small extent IN
most other vegetables and IN mlik and
meat. This is the yltamine supplied e
bottle-fed babies by the addition Of
orange Juice or tomato juice.
| EFFECT NOT FULLY UNDERSTOOD.
The effect Of the vitamines on the body
4 is not thoroughly understood, but they
i are supposed III some way to stimulate