DIETETIC DKFll JKXtV. 3O7 



been from time to time attributed to dietetic deficiency. " Bush 

 sickness " in New Zealand has been rej;^arded by B. C. Aston 

 ((iovernment Chemist) and C. j. Reakes (Government \>teri- 

 narian ) as due to fauky nutrition, but, until recently at least, 

 em})hasis was laid rather on the idea of mineral deficiency than 

 on that of vitann'ne-hunger. The evidence, however, for either 

 view, is as yet tinconvincing-. A ntimber of obscure stock diseases 

 goinjj under such vague names as " dry bible," " coasting,'' " en- 

 zootic paraplegia," " impaction paralysis," and similar non-com- 

 mittal names, have been ascribed to vitamine deficiency by Place 

 in Australia. In luigland a similar hy])othesis has been advanced 

 to accotmt for the difference between adjacent fields in certain 

 areas (notably the Romney Marshes), which show marked differ- 

 ences in the ease with which stock may be fattened upon them, 

 while at the same time shownig no marked differences in the 

 character of their vegetation. 



A few months ago Henr}-, writing from Australia, put on 

 record a study of a new disease in the Bega dairying district of 

 New South Wales, explaining it upon the theory of a deficiency 

 of lime and phosphorus in the local vegetation. This Bega dis- 

 ease seems to resemble otu" own lamziekte in many respects, and 

 it is possible that the two maladies may ultimately turn out to be 

 of similar origin. Meantime, however, we do not regard the defi- 

 ciency theory for the Bega disease as adequately substantiated by 

 the evidence brought forward, even although that evidence, such 

 as it is, certainly suggests the interpretation Henr}^ offers. 



In concluding this cursory sketch of the vitamine aspect of 

 dietetic deficiency, something should be said concerning the l)hy- 

 siological r<de of the vitamines in the animal body. Here, unfor- 

 tunately, we are again on pu.rely speculative ground. It has been 

 stiggested that, amongst other things, they supply " mother stib- 

 stances " necessary for the prejjaration of those secretions of the 

 ductless glands of the bodv which are now known to play so 

 important a part in regulating the metabolic processes. All that 

 is really known is that they are complex chemical compotmds 

 absolutely necessary for the health and growth of most animals. 

 They are only needed in e.vtrcnielv small ainoiiuf, and do not 

 contribute either to the dynamic requirements or to the structural 

 frame-work of the organism. They are pharmacologically indif- 

 ferent in the sense that an unlimited amount may be taken with- 

 out ill eff'ect. In so far as the real amount required is concerned, 

 little is known. The pure vitamines have not yet been prepared 

 in quantity sufficient for detailed investigation, but it is known 

 that diff'erent individuals, even of the same species of animal, 

 require diff'erent amounts, and that the amovmt which any organ- 

 ism requires is not absolute, but depends u]:)on the amount of food 

 (in the ordinary sense) eaten. The vitamines are in some way 

 connected with the utilisation of food after digestion, and the 

 greater the amount of food taken, the greater is the amount of 

 vitamine required. Thus pigeons may be given so little polished 



