The Washington times., 1922-05-14
Bv DIR. w. HUTCHINSON----
Eminent Physician Whose Sensible Articles Health Are Weekly Read
M the White Elixir of Life by No Means Ends Its Usefulness With
Childhood and the Period of Growh-The GOWnng Triumph Ma
ture Holds All Three of the Greatest Glasses OF Foodstus I'm Just
the Right Proportions Required for Proper GowThe First Nu
ment of Its InVgorating Elements Are Boon to the DID,

cool each one of its ingredients
begins to escape from the others
and from the LIQUID form. the fat
to rise to the top, a. cream. the
sugar to ferment into tactic acid,
in the familiar "souring' process,
the protein to ciot into semi-solid
curds. In short. milk IL emphatic
ally q living food and ought to be
eaten alive. This 10 one Of tho
first and most obvious reasons why
II II Of such vital importance and
value that each particular young.
ling should be fed on the milk Of
its own mother II possible
ADAPTED TO LIFE.
Not only Is the proportion Of the
foodstuff In milk sxquisitely adapt
Cd for life and growth. but also for
the rate Of growth Of each particu.
lar baby. Tho COW baby or calf.
for instance. will double it's weight
In about two months. while our
little human "bossy" takes five or
six months to accomplish that feat
Hence the stronger and nrmer
curds Of cows milk, which require
dilution with water for human use
and then the addition of cream
and milk sugar in order to restore
the balance of these ingredients.
When we add to this the treInen-
dous and innumerable risks Of con-
tamination, spelling and infection
of milk in bottle feeding. IL It any
wonder that under industrial and
city conditions the chances Of sur
vivaI of breast.fed babies are near
ly treble those Of bottle-fed?
But when these proportions have
been allowed for and adjusted. tho
most intensely vital and "altve"
properties Of milk still remain, and
these are the so-caller life-essences
or vttamins. These are substances
of such extremely delicate and
probably changeable makeup. and
capable of producing their effects
in such tiny. infinitesimal amounts.
that they so far completely defy
both chemical analysis and the
microscope. and their actual COM
position and character remains q
mystery. It Is not even certain
that they are proteins or "meats."
as the name vitamin given them
by their discoverer, Funk. implies.
PROOF OF THE PUDDING.'
In some respects they resemble
ferments. but they do not possess
even as definite a makeup as fer.
ments. The only way in which
their presence or absence can be
demonstrated is by the old famil-
lar classic proof Of the pudding
is in the tasting" test. feeding the
milk to some young animal and
watching the results. So ''filmy"
and evanescent are they that we
can only describe them as osso-
ciated with or dissolved in certain
elements Of the milk.
For instance, one Of the most
prominent Of them Is contained in
cream or butter-fat, and hence has
been given the rather appalling
title Of the "F'at-soluble A vita
min"
or the presence and Importance
Of this fat vitamin we have been
absolutely sure since the expert
ments of Osborne and Mendel, in
which they showed by most care
full and repeated tests that when
young white rats are fed upon an
abundant and nutritious diet of
starch, sugar, the casein or curd
of milk and lard. although they
would keep in good health. they
soon ceased to grow fat and would
remain stunted and without fur
ther change until the cream or
butter fat from the milk was re-
stored to their diet in place Of the
lard. when they picked UP at once
and began to grow rapidly. This
gave us an idea why butter has
always been regarded rs such q
desirable part Of our diet and why
we try to have II or cream appear
upon our tables at almost every
meal.
VALUABLE SUBSTANCE.
But this is not the only vitamin
in milk. Not only after It was
found that fresh milk contained
another substance which pre-
vented the development Of scurvy.
a disease Of wide prevalence and
deadliness in the Middle Ages.
and among armies. and sailors on
long voyages up to comparatively
recent years, until It was dis.
covered by Captain Cook to be
caused by a deficiency Of fresh
vegetables and fresh fruits In tho