1915] Casimir Funk 353 



entirely failed to throw any light on the etiology of pellagra, sprue, 

 rickets, or spasmophilia, it seems advisable to direct them into another 

 far more promising direction. My hypothesis on pellagra has 

 already met with practica! success; and rickets will very likely 

 follow, when some of the clinicians test the new hypothesis. The 

 only Position that may have been unwarranted, I admit, was that 

 of ascribing to Cancer a possible chemical origin. My justification 

 here is the fact that we are not making any headway in our knowl- 

 edge of Cancer by working with any of the existing hypotheses 

 My ideas have been found, by several authors, to be of value in 

 general nutrition. It would be impossible to quote here all the 

 available references but I should like to mention especially the 

 papers by Melocchi (161), concerning general nutrition; by Fried- 

 enthal (162), regarding the feeding of infants; by Sternberg (163), 

 on the vitamines in connection with appetite; and by Kunert (164), 

 on the influence of deficient food on teeth. 



Every observer who has studied experimental avitaminoses has 

 noticed the diminished resistance of the animals to bacterial infec- 

 tions. Hüssy (165) has reported very good results, with a prep- 

 aration from rice-polishings, in the treatment of weakness and 

 inanition in women. Reach (166) investigated the resistance of 

 mice, on different diets, against picrotoxin, a poison which produces 

 spasms. Regarding the action of this drug on the central nervous 

 System, the animals were found to be more resistant on a meat diet 

 than on a bread diet. Reach accepts the existence of unknown 

 favorable substances in the food. 



Every investigator who has studied experimental deficiency- 

 diseases has noticed the diminished resistance of the treated animals 

 to bacterial infections. Some data are already available for men. 

 Peiser (167) pointed out the importance of different fats and oils 

 in Infant nutrition and their protective power against infections. 

 Morrison (168) sees great danger in restricting the diet of typhoid 

 patients. Thomas (169) found, clinically, a diminished degree of 

 immunity in children on chronic deficient nourishment. Renon 

 (170) suggested that there is diminished immunity to tuberculosis 

 on diets containing insufficient quantities of vitamines. He pro- 

 posed to investigate the influence of whole-meal bread and of 



