62 EXPEEfMENT STATION RECORD. IVoI. ?.6 



assume that the fat-soluble A Is in chemical union in the plant tissues and in 

 a complex which is not soluble in fat or in ether. In digestion and absorption 

 it is set free and, being readily soluble in fats, thereafter accompanies the fats 

 in the animal body." 



The relation of the unidentified dietary factors, the fat-soluble A and 

 water-soluble B, of the diet to the growth-promoting properties of milk, 

 E. V. McCoLLUM, N. SiMMONDS, and W. Pitz {Jour. Biol. Chem., 27 {1916), No. 

 1, pp. SS-JfS, figs. 6). — Experiments with laboratory animals (rats) were carried 

 out to determine the ability of normal female rats to nourish their young when 

 confined to a diet known to be adequate for growth when satisfactoi'y amounts 

 of the dietary essentials, fat-soluble A and water-soluble B, are added, and 

 inadequate for growth when either of these factors is omitted. 



Female rats were fed a ration of natural foodstuffs until their young were 

 delivered. The litter in all cases was reduced to four and several series of 

 experiments conducted in which the basal ration consisted of purified casein, 

 dextrin, inorganic salts, and agar-agar. This was adequate for growth except 

 for the absence of the dietary factors, fat-soluble A and water-soluble B. In 

 a second .series of experiments butter fat containing fat-soluble A was added 

 to the basal ration. In another, water-soluble B was added in the form of an 

 alcoholic extract of wheat embryo, and in still another series both fat-soluble A 

 and water-soluble B were added. Charts are given which show the rate of 

 growth of the young animals and the weight of the nursing mothers receiving 

 these rations. 



It is concluded from these experiments that these two constituents of the 

 diet (fat-soluble A and water-soluble B) "pass into the milk only as they are 

 present In the diet of the mother, and that milks may vary in their growth- 

 promoting power when the diets of the lactating animals differ widely in their 

 satisfactoriness for the growth of young. . . , 



" The chemical natures of the fat-soluble A and water-soluble B. whether 

 these represent in each case a single substance or a group of substances, are of 

 such a character that they can not be formed within the animal body from any 

 of the cleavage products of proteins." 



Studies on experimental scurvy in guinea pigs, Leila Jackson and J, J. 

 IMooRE {Jour. Infect. Diseases, 19 {1916), No. S, pp. 1,18-510. figs, i^).— Tliese ex- 

 periments were undertaken as the result of a di.sease noted among the labora- 

 tory guinea pigs maintained upon a diet which, in addition to oats, green 

 vegetables, hay, and water, consisted largely of milk from a cow having experi- 

 mental streptococcal mastitis. To determine the factors in the diet responsible 

 for the disease, groups of the laboratory animals were fed upon various com- 

 binations of food. The diets tested Included commercially pasteurized market 

 milk ; raw milk ; boiled milk ; milk and streptococcus broth ; streptococcus 

 broth; water and hay; carrots, cabbage, and hay; milk, vegetables, and oats; 

 skim milk ; cream ; milk and olive oil ; lactose water and hay ; limewater ; casein 

 and hay ; condensed milk ; thyroid extract, milk, and hay : hay and oats, bread, 

 or bran ; milk and oats ; and goat's milk. The results of the investigation are 

 summarized in part as follows: 



" Experimental scurvy was produced in guinea pigs by diets of pasteurized, 

 raw, boiled, skimmed, and condensed milk, streptococcus broth and milk, milk 

 and green vegetables, thyroid extract and milk, casein and water, oats, bread, 

 and bran. The addition of calcium lactate to milk or the injection of calcium 

 lactate into guinea pigs on a milk diet did not prevent scurvy. A cream diet, 

 and a diet of olive oil added to milk, produced a ' fat constipation ' with early 

 death. Dally injections of olive oil into animals on a milk diet had no anti- 

 scorbutic effect. 



