340 Vitamines and Deficiency Diseases [June-September 



them relate to (a) Inorganic salts, especially of phosphorus; (b) 

 lipoids, or in reality Phosphatids; (c) fats or oils of peculiar Consti- 

 tution; (d) certain amino-acids and (e) vitamines. Which of these 

 theories has the greatest justification the reader will be able to judge 

 for himself from the succeeding discussion. 



Theory of inorganic salts. Masslow (115), in his experi- 

 ments on the growth of young dogs, studied the influence of wliat he 

 thought was a diet poor in phosphorus. The diet he used had the 

 following composition : Rice, 100 parts; egg albumen, 50 parts, with 

 addition of potassium, sodium and calcium; sugar, 40 parts, with 

 addition of magnesium and iron; starch, 50 parts. The dogs re- 

 mained in good condition for a month, on this diet, then a great 

 wastage of flesh, loss of appetite and death resulted. This diet was 

 typical vitamine-free food; and the addition of phosphates and 

 glycerophosphates had no effect, whereas the administration of 

 " Lecithine Merck " resulted only in temporary improvement. In 

 spite of these results Masslow regards these failures as due to lack 

 of phosphorus. 



In a second paper, on the same subject, Masslow (115) gave 

 the results of analysis of the organs of the dogs kept on the above- 

 mentioned diet. There was diminished content of phosphorus and 

 ferments. Masslow (116) found that the bones underwent marked 

 changes, with small hemorrhages resembling those of infantile 

 scurvy. Durlach (117) carried out, on a similar diet, some experi- 

 ments on dogs, but the animals did not grow on vitamine-free food. 



Röhmann (118) fed mice on artificial diets. The duration of 

 the experiments was extended to the second generation. In the 

 second generation, however, the diet did not suffice. Although 

 Röhmann concluded that an artificial diet does not have the value of 

 ordinary food, he refused to accept the existence of any unknown 

 chemical factors. The composition of the diets in his experiments 

 were the following : 



First Second 



12 gm. casein 14 gm. casein 



4 gm. chicken protein 4 gm. chicken protein 



4 gm. nucleoprotein from liver 4 gm. vitellin 



180 gm. potato starch i ^o gm. potato starch 



^ ^ t 120 gm. wheat starch 



12 gm. margarine ig gm. margarine 



4 gm. Salt mixture 4 gm. salt mixture 



