HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT G85 



published in 1922 and 1923. When rats were fed on diets devoid of this 

 new fat-soluble vitamin, they failed to reproduce. This deficiency was 

 overcome when an e.xtract containing the missing principle was given. 

 It was named "vitamin E" and was frequently referred to as the "anti- 

 sterility vitamin." It is not entirely certain whether or not Mattill and 

 Conklin^^ should have been given credit for the discovery of vitamin E, 

 since they observed, as early as 1920, that disturbances in reproduction 

 occurred in rats fed milk diets. In any event, the reports of Evans and 

 Bishop^"^^ were soon confirmed by Mattill and co-workers.'^ Mattill''' 

 recorded the new type of sterility in male rats deprived of a dietary "X 

 substance"; this deficiency in capacity to reproduce appeared more slowly 

 in male rats then in females, but the damage to the testes was shown by 

 Mason'^-'^ to be permanent and irreparable. Evans and Burr'^ reported 

 that weanling rats from mothers on a restricted diet, presumably also 

 deficient in vitamin E, developed paralysis. The damage could be cured 

 when the mothers were given a natural food mixture, or it could be pre- 

 vented if the mothers received wheat germ oil or other substances known 

 to be rich in vitamin E. The wide apphcation of vitamin E was evident 

 from the fact that it was concerned not only with the growth of young 

 chicks but also with the development of the embryo, '^'^ since eggs from 

 hens on a low-vitamin E diet exhibited a reduced hatchability. Adam- 

 stone and Card"" noted that a testicular degeneration occurred in adult 

 male birds subjected to a vitamin D-free diet. 



In addition to the effect on reproduction, Goettsch-' and Pappenheimer,^^ 

 working independently and together,-^ observed that vitamin E exerted 

 an important effect upon the metabolism of muscle. When rats, rabbits, 

 or guinea pigs were fed diets devoid of vitamin E, a specific type of mus- 

 cular dystrophy developed. Another physiologic response attributable to 

 vitamin E is its effect upon growth. Thus, when rats are raised on a 

 vitamin E-low diet, a growth-promoting action can be observed when in- 



12 H. A. Mattill and R. E. Conklin, /. Biol. Chem,, 44, 137-158 (1920). 



13 H. A. Mattill, J. S. Carman, and M. M. Clavton, /. Biol. Chem., 61, 729-740 (1924). 

 1^ H. A. Mattill, Am. J. Physiol, 79, 305-315 (1927). 



15 K. E. Mason, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci., U. S., 11, 377-382 (1925). 



i« K. E. Mason, J. Exptl. Zool, 45, 159-229 (1926). 



1' H. M. Evans and G. O. Burr, /. Biol. Chem., 76, 273-297 (1928). 



18 F. B. Adamstone, /. MorphoL, 52, 47-90 (1931). 



1^ F. B. Adamstone, Anat. Record, 60, No. 4, Suppl., 36-37 (1934). 



^ F. B. Adamstone and L. E. Card, J. MorphoL, 56, 339-359 (1934). 



21 M. Goettsch, Proc. Soc. Expll. Biol. Med., 27, 564-567 (1930). 



22 A. M. Pappenheimer, Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med., 27, 567-568 (1930). 



23 M. Goettsch and A. M. Pappenheimer, J. Exptl. Med., 64, 145-165 (1931). 



