Evening star., 1940-09-13
Newest vitamin H,
Potent and Costly,
Found Vital 10 Man
Microscope Needed to See
Worlds Supply, but It's
Enough for Experiments
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff Correspondent.

s~~~~>
by far the most potent biological
substance known, was described to
the American Chemical Society
meeting here today.
There are only IL milligrams OF
the material in the world and only
O025 milligram in the United States.
This amount Is so small that 1t
can hardly be seen under q power
full microscope. Yet so powerful Is
its action that the invisible speck
Is sufficient for experiments planned
for years to come.
The substance is biotin. or vita
min H. 1t is essential, biologists al
ready have demonstrated, for the
growth of the bacteria that grow on
the roots of leguminous plants and
fix bacteria in the soil. Without this
the earth would soon become de-
pleted, and most vegetation would
perish.
Abundant in MOlaSseS.
This vitamin, which prevents the
world from becoming desert, is
most abundant, it was reported to
the chemists by Drs. J. o. Lampen,
G. P. Bahler and w. H. Peterson
of the University of Wisconsin, in
black strap molasses." 1t also is
found in egg yolk, pork kidney and
liver, soy beans, lean beef, yellow
corn, grass Juice and milk-but
from some of these it is impossible
to extract it by any known chemical
methods.
Biotin was first isolated, DR..
Peterson explained in an interview.
in 1888 by Dr.. Fritz Kogl of the
University of Utrecht, Holland, who
extracted the enthusiastically small
amount at present available from
nearly half ton of dried duck egg
yolk imported from China Prof.
Kogl at once split up this tiny bit
and distributed, in water solutions,
to laboratories all over the world
competent to work with it. To the
University of Wisconsin he sent the
IS gamma which remains the entire
American supply. A gamma is a
thousandth of milligram.
Il suppose it might make barely
distinguishable stain" Dr., Petersen
said. Actually, we have never seen
any Of it-just bottle of water"
Important to Higher Animals.
The potency of the material is
such. he explained, that one gram
dissolved in 25,00O,000 gallons of
water is sufficiently active to pro-
mote the growth of yeast cells and
bacteria.
Less than two months ago the i'm
portance of the material to higher
animals was first learned. Rats
used in certain biological expert
ments in which they are fed diets
extremely rich in the white of eggs
develop a progressive and fatal dis
ease. 1t could be checked. however,
by feeding them certain foods sup
posedly rich in an unknown vita
nin-the so-called vitamin H.
It remained for DR.. Vincent Du
Vigneaud, professor of biochemistry
at Cornell Medical School, to DEM
onstrate that the hypothetical vita
min H was Identical with the, biotin
isolated by the Dutch professor.
This, apparently, is only a begin
ming, The University of Wisconsin
experiments have shown. Dr.. Peter
son said, that the substance is
found in the liver and kidneys of
animals but so intricately locked
into the cells that it cannot be ex-
tracted. When nature takes such
extreme precautions to insure the
possession of substance it is fair
to assume that it is absolutely es-
sential to life.
1t may have some bearing. it was
explained. on the old practice of
giving children strong doses of sui
phur and molasses in the spring.
Existence Assumed for Years.
The existence of biotin has been
assumed from theoretical consider
ations for many years, Prof. Peter
son explained. More than a dec
ade ago there was isolated a sub
stance known as bios. This was
essentially the part of the vitamin
B complex which was soluble in
water. 1t was demonstrated that
this bios was absolutely essential
for the growth of yeast.
Step by step it was split up.
Finally organic chemists were left
with a growth of substance known
as pantothenic acid. But when alb
solutely pure pantothenic acid was
obtained IL was found insufficient to
promote yeast growth. Something
which baff1ed the chemists still was
hidden in bios until Prof. Kogl per-
formed his laborious sitting of dried
egg yolk
Pantothenic acid remained for
several years a mystery substance,
50 far as its application to animal
life was concerned. 1t was sus-
pected Of preventing gray hair, and
this possibility still is debated
Within the last month physicians
Of the United States Public Health
Service have demonstrated that lack
Of 1t causes degeneration of the
adrenal glands of rats and may
be responsible for the dreaded Ad-
dison's disease in man.
Biotin Remains a Mystery.
With this acid out of the way
biotin remains the great mystery of
the B complex. The fact that it
cures the egg white disease" DR..
Peterson explained, does not go far
towards explaining its real function
until psychologists can find out what
the egg white does to the rats in
the first place. One series of ex-
periments at Wisconsin indicates
that something in the egg white
causes the body to excrete all Of its
biotin The excretions of egg
white" rats are very rich in the sub
stance. although none has been fed
the animals.
Egg yolk, supposedly the richest
source, turns out from the Wisconsin
experiments to be less than half
as potent, weight for weight. as
molasses. Although none of the pure
substance actually has been ex-
tracted from the molasses, DR.. Peter
son said it would be fairly eaSy to