PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 



This initial attempt at a classification of our knowledge on vita- 

 mines and avitaminoses contains, besides a number of facts, the per- 

 sonal conceptions of the author, new questions, ideas and lines of 

 research. Much of the material is fragmentary while some of it is 

 purely hypothetical. This small book is to be regarded as the first 

 step in a new direction in the field of physiology and pathology. 

 Many facts are still lacking in this field of work so that hypotheses 

 must naturally fill the gaps. Even if the structure is skeleton-like, 

 at least the fundamentals are well established. 



At this point, I want to thank Dr. Fraser, Dr. Stanton, Prof. 

 Hoist, Dr. Mott, Dr. Roberts, Dr. Standwith and Dr. Zeller, and the 

 London Society of Tropical Medicine, for the permission to reproduce 

 illustrations. I am thankful also to Dr. Macauley of Cape Town for 

 having called my attention to a South African cattle disease. In 

 particular, do I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my Father, 

 Dr. J. Funk, for his unvaried and tireless assistance. 



I would appreciate it greatly if the investigators who are conducting 

 research on problems discussed in this book would be kind enough 

 to send me reprints of their work which, at times, is available only 

 with great difficulty. 



THE AUTHOR. 



Cancer Hospital Research Institute, 

 Brompton, London, S. W. 



October, 1913. 



