158 THE VITAMINS 



Osborne and Mendel (1920c) and Parsons (1920) were of the 

 opinion however that the evidence upon which Harden and Zilva and 

 Drummond based their conclusions was not convincing inasmuch as 

 the orange or lemon juice used as antiscorbutics may have functioned 

 merely as additional sources of vitamin B. 



The susceptibility of the monkey to scurvy and its requirement 

 for vitamin C as compared with the requirements of the guinea pig 

 and of man were studied by Harden and Zilva (1919, 1920). In the 

 first of two papers on this subject (1919) three experiments were re- 

 ported in which scurvy was induced in the monkey by the following 

 diets : First, fresh beer, steamed wheat germ, and autoclaved bread, 

 rice and peanuts ; second, autoclaved rice, bread and autoclaved milk ; 

 and third, a diet similar to the first with the substitution of autoclaved 

 milk for the beer. In all cases an acute scorbutic condition developed 

 in from three to four months, the symptoms in the first two cases being 

 confirmed by the histological changes noted on autopsy. In the third 

 experiment the animal was cured in less than a week by the feeding 

 of lemon juice. The minimum protective dose of orange juice for 

 monkeys was later (1920) found to be between 1 and 2 cubic centi- 

 meters per day while doses of 2 to 5 cubic centimeters proved an 

 adequate prophylactic. "A monkey therefore of 2 or 3 kilos is pro- 

 tected from scurvy by about the same quantity of orange juice as a 

 guinea pig weighing 300 to 400 grams. It is interesting 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." 



It is estimated that an average child of 8 to 10 kilos needs 

 as much antiscorbutic vitamin as is furnished by about 15 cubic 

 centimeters of orange juice per day. This indicates about the 

 same requirement per unit of body weight in the child as in the 

 monkey, while the guinea pig requirement per unit of weight is 

 about five times larger. This is probably only a very rough approxi- 

 mation. 



While it is generally conceded that the antiscorbutic vitamin can 

 not be stored in the body to the extent that it is possible with vitamin 

 A (Hess, 1920, p. 275) the suggestion of Harden and Zilva as to the 

 relative storage of the antiscorbutic vitamin in the monkey and the 



