VITAMIN B (Si) 55 



In another paper published later in the same year Osborne and 

 Mendel (1917b), in calling attention to the fact that up to this time 

 milk and pancreas were the only products of animal origin that had 

 been tested for the presence of the water-soluble vitamin, stated that 

 "indirect evidence that animal tissues may contain this hormone is 

 afforded by studies of the protective, curative or antineuritic properties 

 of some of these in relation to beriberi. That the substance which in- 

 duces the remarkable recoveries which have been described in these 

 cases is identical with the water-soluble hormone which is so essential 

 for growth and maintenance is as yet merely a matter of conjecture." 

 In the experimental work reported in this paper it was shown that 

 muscle tissue and meat extract contain but little of the water-soluble, 

 growth-promoting vitamin but that liver contains a larger proportion 

 of this substance. It was pointed out that these results parallel the 

 findings of Cooper in respect to the relative amounts of antineuritic 

 vitamin in muscle and liver. Attention was also called to the fact that 

 both liver and pancreas, in contrast to muscle tissue, are exceptionally 

 rich in glandular cells. 



The question as to whether the antineuritic and growth-promoting 

 properties of yeast are different properties of the same vitamin or 

 indicate two different vitamins in the yeast was complicated in all of 

 the work reviewed by the fact that pigeons or fowls were used for 

 testing the antineuritic and rats or mice the growth-promoting prop- 

 erties. Recognizing this, Emmett and McKim (1917) attempted to 

 determine whether a yeast preparation known to have been effective 

 in curing polyneuritis in pigeons would completely supplement polished 

 rice to the extent of bringing about normal gains in weight in the 

 cured pigeons on continued feeding. They found that activated fuller's 

 earth prepared from autolyzed yeast by the original method of Seidell, 

 when added as a supplement to polished rice not only prevented the 

 recurrence of polyneuritis but brought about some gain in weight for 

 from 75 to 90 days, after which growth came to a standstill. Barley, 

 shelled corn, and brown rice fed as the sole diet brought about better 

 gains, the brown rice giving the best results. Brown rice plus the 

 vitamin extract stimulated growth beyond normal values. They con- 

 cluded that, "(a) the activated fuller's earth when given as a rational 

 supplement to a polished or brown rice diet, acts as a partial stimu- 

 lant to increase the weight of the treated polyneuritic pigeons; (b) it 

 does not, however, in the case of the polished rice, accelerate the in- 

 crease in weight to anything like that which is produced under similar 

 conditions with brown rice alone, corn, barley, or hulled oats ; and 



