THE VITAMINES IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



121 



extends to the entire metabolism, and that the specific influence does 

 not depend upon the food intake. 



The effect of the lack of vitamine B on rats was studied by Drum- 

 mond (337). Among other observations, creatinuria was noted; this 

 was connected with the cleavage of muscle tissue. Grown animals 

 often exhibited subnormal temperatures, while paralytic symptoms 

 were rarely noted. The right heart in some cases was enlarged and 

 the testicles showed a suppression of spermatogenesis. 14 Emmett and 

 Allen (339) investigated the organs and glands of rats kept on a diet 

 poor in vitamine B. They noted atrophy of the thymus and hyper- 



,2. 50 



200 



150 



1 



JO 

 



(VDRMAL 

 itoWTtf "^ 



MONTH 



50 





T?IQ. 27. SHOWING PRELIMINARY GROWTH AND EVENTUAL DECLINE ON DIET 

 DEFICIENT IN VITAMINE A 



Also recovery on addition of a source of vitamine A. In the small diagram, 

 the lower curve shows growth of breast-fed young when the mother is fed on 

 a diet deficient in A-vitamine; the upper curve shows the same when the 

 mother is fed on a complete artificial diet. (Rep. Med. Res. Com.) 



trophy of the adrenals, similar to the findings in birds. Liver, heart 

 and other organs, particularly certain intestinal segments, were found 

 inflamed and infiltrated. Frequently, a fatty degeneration of some 

 organs was noted. Lack of vitamine A, however, led to no patholog- 

 ical changes, at any rate not of such a nature as were easily demon- 

 strated. In this case, the symptoms were least apparent in older 



14 Osborne and Mendel (338) held that yeast as the sole source of proteins 

 causes sterility in rats, but it still remains to corroborate this finding. These 

 investigators confirmed our statement (I.e. 325) that for rats, yeast protein 

 can completely replace the protein of the diet. 



