CHAPTER I 

 THE R6LE OF THE VITAMINES IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM 



It was quite clear from the start that the importance of the 

 vitamines was not limited to animal life only, but was applicable 

 to all living matter. At present, the view is held that the animal 

 organism does not possess the ability of synthesizing these factors, 

 and in this respect it is dependent either directly or indirectly on 

 plant life. We must determine, however, which plants, and espe- 

 cially what parts of plants, possess the power of building up the 

 vitamines out of simpler combinations. Furthermore, we should 

 like to know what role these substances play in plant physiology. We 

 can immediately assert that although the work on this aspect of the 

 subject is still in its infancy, not all plants apparently are able to 

 build up the vitamines (this is perhaps not true of all vitamines). 



Upon more careful consideration of the higher plants, we find the 

 vitamines localized in two divisions, in the seeds and in the green 

 leaves, parts of the plant which at certain tunes are of particular 

 importance in its metabolism. We find, with few exceptions, the 

 greatest amount of vitamine B in seeds, together with varying 

 amounts of vitamine A. It is quite apparent that in seeds, the 

 analogue of milk and eggs in the animal kingdom, all the substances 

 are present which are necessary for the sprouting of the new plant. 

 The vitamines play a great part in this process, yet we are dealing 

 here only with conjectures. As soon as seeds are planted under 

 conditions of proper moisture and temperature, the ferments, which 

 had been in a quiescent state, commence to function. These fer- 

 ments begin to marshal the stored up reserve substances. In this 

 instance, we may also consider the vitamines as reserve substances, 

 and we may conceive that they too undergo some chemical changes 

 through the influence of ferments. As an analogy to this example 

 we already know that vitamine C is generated upon the germination 

 of seeds. All other phenomena, like the division of the nuclei of 

 cells, remain unknown to us, although we are soon aware of the 

 appearance of the first green shoot. What part the vitamines play 

 in this case is not definitely known. Perhaps they are of importance 



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