Evening star., 1942-07-02
Of Sturs, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Laboratory, Field
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.

proposed IOT lne American people Dy
the National Research Council. has been
reported to the American Medical As
sociation by DR.. Roger j. Williams, di-
rector of the Biochemical Institute Of
the University of Texas.
DR.. Williams is one of the worlds
foremost experts on the chemistry of
vitamins. His scale is based on the
amounts actually contained in diets on
which men and dogs are known to
thrive, and tends to support those who
oppose fortifying many natural foods
with synthetic vitamins.
The so-called vitamin B complex now
Is known to contain at least eight dis
tinct substances. There is no positive
evidence, but only strong suspicion,
that human beings actually need four
of these, the exact functions of which
are unknown-biotin, tnositol, pyridotin
and rolic acid. The fact that DR.. Will
llams finds appreciable amounts of them
in his good natural diet indicates that
the animal system requires them.
Among his surprising findings is that
both birds and insects have far better
diets, SO far as vitamins are concerned,
than men, dogs or rats
Insects eat various fungi and pile up
vitamins In their bodies. Birds eat the
insects and get the benefit.
First, DR.. Williams selected diet on
which human beings are known to
thrive.
He paid no attention to the vitamin
content of the various foods. The first
food essential is fuel One eats to live.
burns coal, Oil or gas.
A fair estimate of the amount of fuel
necessary is that which will produce
$500 calories of heat a day. The test
diet satisfied this requirement and also
provided essential minerals.
1t is doubtful, he says If any diet
could be selected which a priori would
be known to be superior to the one
chosen"
The "calories" we're supplied by whole
milk, whole wheat, beef, pork, liver. po-
tatoes, butter, eggs, fresh peas, fresh
carrots and orange juice.
After establishing that it was a good
diet, regardless of the amounts of vita
minis it contained DR.. Williams then
applied to each item refined methods
OF Vltamln detection developed in his
laboratory at the University of Texas.
The total amounts, he concluded. were
about what the average human being
needs.
1hen he took commercial dog food,
made up without any deliberate con-
slderation of Its vitamin content. upon
which dogs are known to thrive. He
found that it agreed essentially with the
human diet in vitamin assay.
Then he assayed the carcass of a rat
which had been a healthy animal dur
Ing life. This also gave about the same
Vltamin content.
Inc next step was to analyze vari-
Gus commercial vitamin B prenara-
uons, sold at relatively high prices. and
found that they contained about the
same amounts Of the vitamins as his
selected diet-based on the average
adult dose"-and that from seven to
lo -teaspoonfuls a day Of one of the
best OF them would be required to supplv
ali the body's needs.
Ut is apparent" DR.. Williams saws
that these preparations are. in general
wholly inadequate as sources of the
Vitamin complex"
The good diet yielded the following
Vltamin content for $500 calories.
B-l, or thiamin, the nerve utamin
SO milligrams, compared with is in the
National Research Council scale.
Nicotine acid, the pellagra preventa-
tive, 40l miligrams, compared with g.
proposed daily ration of Is.
Rlbofavin, preventative of a pelspra-
IKE disease, 3.67 milligrams, compared
With 2.5 recommended.
Pantothenic acid, liz milliprams M
estimate of this requirement was mada
by the national committee, but Dr. Will
l1ams holds that the amount contained
IN his diet is probably about what Is
necessary.
There Is a thick gas" Of space whose
molecules are universes.
This has just been reported to the
National Academy of Sciences by DR..
Fritz zwicky OF the California Institute
Of Technology.
The sun and the solar system belong
to an aggregate of stars-probably 100
000,000,0O0 or more-Which centers In the
Milky Way and is known as the Milky
Way galaxy. Separated from 1t by voids
which light, moving at 10000 miles a
second. crosses in millions of years are
other aggregates just as big There are
millions of them. Some are old and
stable and some, like the Milky WAY
galaxy, only middle-aged
DR.. ZWicky has subjected to a rigid
mathematical analysis one group Of these
which can be discerned in Mount Will
sons 100-inch telescope. 1t is the So
called Hydra cluster" 1t is moving out
ward over the horizon of space itself at
speed Of about $500 miles second
His analysis shows, DR.. Zwicky points
out in his report to the National Acad-
emy, that at the center of this system
the universes made up of billions of
stars are grouped very close together so
that approximately million of them
are inclosed in cubic space which would
be traversed by light in any direction in
about 100000 900 0OO, ,OoOO 900 years.
In the neighborhood of the Milky Way
galaxy there are only about 10 in the
same space.
The amazing side of his investigation,
Dr. ZWickY reports is that these titanic