ARTICLES 603 



It will be seen at a glance that the anti-beriberi factor is 

 so stable as not to be affected by storage or by ordinary cooking 

 operations. The principal sources of this vitamine are to be 

 found in the seeds of plants and in the eggs of animals. In 

 the case of cereals, the germ and husk of the grain are richest 

 in the vitamine, the white endosperm from which white flour 

 is made containing very much less. From this point of view, 

 brown bread affords a good source of this vitamine. 



The anti-rachitic factor, on the other hand, may be com- 

 pletely destroyed by prolonged boiling, as in the case of milk, 

 or stews, or by the commercial methods of canning meats and 

 vegetables. The principal sources of the fat-soluble factor 

 are animal fats, fish-oils, and green vegetables, as may be 

 seen from Table II. Of the animal fats, butter-fat and beef- 

 fat are the most important, pork fat being singularly deficient 

 in this respect. Fish-oils appear to be very rich, but vegetable 

 oils generally poor or lacking in this growth-promoting vitamine. 

 Margarines, made chiefly from vegetable oils, are therefore more 

 suitable for adults than for children, who need the fat-soluble 

 vitamine most during their growing years. When margarine 

 is, however, inevitable, green food and carrots should be given 

 more freely, and, if necessary, cod liver oil. 



Green vegetables, such as cabbages, are rich in the fat-soluble 

 vitamine, but the white parts, or "heart," of green cabbages 

 are almost completely lacking in it. According to Steenbock,' 

 yellow sweet potatoes and other yellow foods, such as carrots, 

 and yellow varieties of Indian corn have also the fat-soluble 

 vitamine, but not white varieties of similar nature. Com- 

 paratively little is known as to the stability of this vitamine 

 when stored. 



The anti-scorbutic vitamine is, on the other hand, easily 

 destroyed by heat and deteriorates under most forms of storage. 

 It is necessary to consider this in relation to each of the principal 

 sources of this vitamine — fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, and 

 sprouted seeds. 



3. Influence of Heat on the Anti-scorbutic Properties of 

 Vegetables and Fruits. — Carefully controlled experiments make 

 it clear that there is a progressive and serious destruction of 

 the anti-scorbutic principle in fresh cabbage during cooking.* 

 Young guinea-pigs have been kept successfully free from 

 scurvy on a daily ration of i gm. raw fresh green cabbage, the 

 basal additional diet being nutritious but purely scorbutic. 

 If the cabbage ration is still further reduced symptoms of scurvy 

 make an early appearance. 



When, however, the cabbage leaves are cooked before being 

 offered to the animals a much larger ration is necessary to give 

 the same result. After simmering for an hour in hot water 



