ViTAMINE CONTENT OF FOODSTUFFS 255 



minimal value of corn proteins does not depend so much on the 

 unfavorable content of amino acids, as that for some animals, the 

 dilution of the complete proteins by the incomplete, and by large 

 amounts of starch, has an unfavorable effect on the utilization. 



POTATOES 



We have already stated that in a population that is nourished 

 chiefly on potatoes, no avitaminoses appear and pellagra is unknown. 

 The value of potatoes as a protection against deficiency diseases has, 

 to a certain extent, been recognized by some investigators. Although 

 the protein content of potatoes is small, and although large quan- 

 tities must be used because of the great dilution of the more valuable 

 components present, it seems to be certain that this dilution is harm- 

 less to people. The author has often had the opportunity of observing 

 Polish peasants at their meals. When the men returned from the 

 fields, an enormous plate of potatoes was set before them, so that a 

 city dweller could hardly conceive of the possibility of consuming 

 such a great amount of food. Still, the entire contents of the dish 

 (not plate), cooked with a trace of lard to give added taste, dis- 

 appeared in an unbelievably short time. From the many modern 

 investigations on the nutritive value of potatoes, it is clear to us 

 why these peasants must consume such an unusual amount of pota- 

 toes. It is correlated with the small content of protein, together 

 with the three known vitamines. The splendid utilization of potato 

 proteins was unquestionably demonstrated by Hindhede (732), and 

 we shall discuss this later on. His findings were confirmed by 

 Abderhalden, Fodor and Rose (733) as well as by Rose and Cooper 

 (734). Despite the work of Rubner (735), we believe that Hind- 

 hede's results are on a firm foundation. 



The experiments with animals, especially rats and guinea pigs, 

 resulted differently from those on man. We have already seen in 

 the author's earlier work on guinea pig scurvy, that fresh potato 

 juice did not possess any great protective action against this disease. 

 McCollum, Simmonds and Parsons (736), experimenting with rats, 

 obtained results quite dissimilar to those in man. They found that 

 potatoes cannot take the place of other grains in their nutritive value, 

 and are deficient in salts, protein and vitamine A. One would be 

 tempted to conclude from this that, between rats and man, there are 

 differences in the utilization of potatoes. Osborne and Mendel (737) 



