384 THE VITAMINES 



admitted that the absence of vitamine A favors the occurrence of 

 ophthalmia in quite a specific manner, while contrary findings require 

 further explanation. It is possible, for example, that in the presence 

 of cod liver oil, but with a small food intake there might be insuffi- 

 cient vitamine A supplied to the animal. All substances containing 

 vitamine A may be used in the therapy of ophthalmia. 



TUBERCULOSIS 



That diet plays an important part in the therapy of tuberculosis, 

 is too well known to require further discussion. An added confirma- 

 tion of this is found in the reports on the influence of the war diets, 

 of which we have already spoken. However, we may mention once 

 more the communication of Adams and Hamilton (I.e. 1048), dealing 

 with the increase in tuberculosis in Germany during the war. Ham- 

 burger (1522) also, in his report on the war diet of children, pointed 

 out the dependence of the number of cases of tuberculosis on the diet, 

 stating that it was due to the lack of fat. Stolzner (1523) likewise 

 reported on the effect of the diet. Geoghegan (1524) reported on 

 some cases in the West Indies, which, in his opinion, are due to the 

 prevailing poverty. On these islands, with good climatic conditions, 

 there should be very little tuberculosis. Richet (1525) believed that 

 meat juice contains ferments which act favorably on tuberculosis. 

 Woodcock and Rustin (1526) stated that the diet in tuberculosis 

 must be rich in protein and fat (in the form of milk or milk products) . 

 If margarine is used, it must be oleo-margarine which contains vita- 

 mine A; the diet must also contain plenty of fruits and vegetables. 

 Gardey (1526a) finds that certain symptoms of pulmonary tuber- 

 culosis resemble those of a deficiency disease. He suggests that 

 collecting of statistical data on the relationship between the con- 

 sumption and the composition of the diet in various countries would 

 be helpful in the study of this condition. 



Just how important the diet is in tuberculosis, is shown by the 

 experimental investigations of Weigert (1527). He showed in young 

 pigs that on a constant protein content, tuberculosis develops more 

 frequently in the presence of carbohydrates than in that of fats. 

 Similar investigations were made by E. Thomas and Hornemann 

 (1528), who showed, in pigs infected with tuberculosis, that the 

 animals manifested tuberculosis less on protein and much more on 

 carbohydrates, while on fat, varying results were obtained. In 



