1920] . FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 4G1 



minutes with an. excess of a 2 per cent solution of sodium hydroxid to destroy 

 the antiscorbutic vitamin. 



Untreated orange juice in daily doses of 10 ce. was found to have a curative 

 effect on polyneuritic pij^eoiis, while kaolin-treated juice was without effect. 

 Guinea pigs in wliich scurvy had been produced by a prolonged diet of oats 

 and superheated uiill< were cured by the addition of 5 cc. per day of the 

 filtrate of kaolin-treated juice. 



From tliese observations the authors conclude that orange juice contains a 

 relatively large amount of the antineuritic vitamin, which is apparently re- 

 sponsible for the growth-stimulating influence of the juice. Attention is called 

 to the evidence in the literature of the coexistence of the antineuritic and 

 antiscorbutic vitamins in other foods, including the tomato, banana, cabbage, 

 potato, and turnip, and of the pathologic similarities of beriberi and scurvy. 

 "The 'pathologic adinities' of beriberi and of scurvy may possibl.v be ex- 

 plained by the fact that the antineuritic content of the commonly used anti- 

 scorbutics has not been considered." 



The antiscorbutic requirements of the monkey, A. IIardkx and S. S. Zilva 

 (Biochcm. Jour., 14 (1920), No. 2, pp. ISl-lSJf). — Supplementing earlier work on 

 scurvy in monkeys (E. S. R., 41, p. 860), the authors have determined the 

 minimum dose of orange juice for these animals. 



Experiments with five monkeys are reported which indicate that the daily 

 minimum protective dose of fresh orange juice for monkeys lies between 1 and 

 2 cc, while higher doses of 2 to 5 cc. proved an adequate prophylactic. "A 

 monkey, therefore, of 2 or 3 kg. is protected from scurvy by about the same 

 quantity of orange juice as a guinea pig weighing 300 to 400 gm. It is in- 

 teresting to note that, while the minimum dose of antiscorbutic required by 

 the two animals to protect them from scurvy is of the same order, the time 

 taken for the development of the disease is very different, being about two 

 months for a monkey and three weeks for a guinea pig. This suggests that 

 the monkey possesses a higher store of the antiscorbutic factor than the guinea 

 pig, while their daily requirements for metabolism are equal." 



The production in monkeys of symptoms closely resembling those of 

 pellagra, by prolonged feeding on a diet of low protein content. H. Chick 

 and E. M. Hume (Biochem. Jour., 14 {1920), No. 2, pp. 135-1^6, pi. 1, fig. 1).~ 

 This paper gives an account of preliminary experiments in an attempt to pro- 

 duce experimental pellagra In monkeys by a diet of which the protein was 

 deficient in tryptophan and lysin, all other requirements being satisfied. The 

 accessory food factors were supplied by daily rations of from 10 to 20 gm. of 

 butter as a source of fat-soluble A, 2 gm. of marmite for water-soluble B, and 

 10 cc. of fresh orange juice for the antiscorbutic factor. The rest of the diet 

 consisted of sugar, corn flour, salt, and corn gluten, together with a small 

 daily ration of apple or banana. 



The corn gluten was fed in different proportions. Two of the three mon- 

 keys used began to lose weight on a ration containing suflicient gluten to give 

 a total protein content of 23 gm., of which 15.6 gm. was zein. The third monkey 

 did not begin to lose weight until the corn gluten was reduced until it fur- 

 nished only 15 gm. of total protein, of which 10 gm. was zein. 



The first two animals beg;ui to show a faint erythema on the face on the 

 fifty-first and thirty-third days, respectively. This erythema, which was of a 

 papillo-macular type, continued intermittently but progressively for the rest 

 of the experiment. The third animal developed faint erythema soon after 

 being put on the low protein diet. This gradually increased until the skin 

 lesions closely resembled those of pellagra, being bilaterally symmetrical and 



