VITAMIN G {B2) 145 



ulcerated condition of the entire lower lip; in many cases soreness of 

 the nose develops with occasional bleeding; the animal becomes weak 

 and tends to remain in a humped posture; in advanced stages diarrhea 

 is common and there may be bloody discharges, both in feces and 

 urine. 



In less rapidly fatal cases in which abnormalities of the skin were 

 more common, the fur becomes dry and pulls out readily, often a 

 definite saddle-like pattern appearing on the shoulders or back. Small 

 dry cream-colored scales may appear on the affected areas of the skin, 

 which later may be replaced by larger yellowish crusts, tending to ap- 

 pear symmetrically on the sides of the back, shoulders and chest. 

 Occasionally rough reddened areas are found on the paws and inside 

 of the fore legs. 



While the animals showed individual variation, yet on the whole 

 the symptoms observed were consistent with those reported by Gold- 

 berger and his coworkers and by Chick and Roscoe. 



Vitamin G is evidently a substance of coordinate importance with 

 the longer known vitamins as an essential factor in normal nutrition 

 and deprivation or serious shortage of this substance results in wide- 

 spread injury to the body. Conversely, the liberal feeding of this 

 substance may be expected to play a significant part in inducing a 

 better-than-average nutritive condition. 



Hartwell (1924a) had observed the increased need of the lactating 

 rat for the "vitamin B complex." Evan and Burr (1928a) and Sure 

 (1928f) have reported that the vitamin ^ed is much greater for suc- 

 cessful lactation and reproduction than for rapid growth. 



Hassan and Drummond (1927) noted that the heat-stable alkali- 

 resistant fraction of the "vitamin B complex" is the one primarily con- 

 cerned in the relation of yeast extract to protein metabolism, rendering 

 high-protein diets adequate for grovii:h, thus clarifying Hart well's 

 (1924a) observation of a relation between the amount of protein in 

 the diet and the need for vitamin B complex in a lactating rat's diet, 

 the amount of vitamin needed increasing with the protein intake. 



Kon (1929) found the carbon-nitrogen ratio of the urine of rats 

 deprived of vitamin G to be higher than that of rats receiving a normal 

 diet, an indication of some important relation of vitamin G to the 

 metabolic processes of the body. 



In part also to vitamin G probably belongs the improved nutrition 

 resulting from an increased proportion of milk in an already adequate 

 diet, as summarized by Sherman and Campbell in 1924. This improve- 

 ment was evidenced by more rapid and efficient growth during the 



