VITAMIN C 167 



lowered power of reaction of the cells. Hojer's papers have been re- 

 viewed in considerable detail on account of their quantitative aspect 

 and their emphasis on the significance of slight as well as marked de- 

 ficiencies of vitamin C. Quite recently they have received more attention 

 than when first published on account of awakened interest in the prac- 

 ticability of the method of tooth examination as a rapid quantitative 

 method in vitamin C determination. (See beyond.) 



Wolbach and Howe (1925, 1926), reporting upon an investigation 

 planned and begun before the appearance of Hojer's monograph, con- 

 firmed some of Hojer's observations, but were of the opinion that 

 Hojer's diets were not completely deficient in vitamin C and conse- 

 quently the feedings were not always comparable. With the basal diet 

 employed by them the earliest changes in the teeth were observed in 

 from 6 to 7 days. The most striking of these changes are described as 

 the separation of the layer of odontoblasts from the dentin, with the 

 filling in of the space between them with a liquid. The odontoblasts 

 themselves underwent changes in size, arrangement and staining reac- 

 tion. The changes noted in the bones were cessation of bone formation, 

 with accumulation of osteoblasts in certain localities, particularly under 

 the periosteum. The effect of the addition of an antiscorbutic was very 

 rapid. In the teeth, formation of new dentin to fill in the space caused 

 by the separation of odontoblasts was evident within 48 hours, while 

 in the bones a single dose of orange juice or other antiscorbutic sub- 

 stance was followed by the prompt appearance of bone matrix between 

 the cells. Artificial bone lesions showed no repair until the addition 

 of antiscorbutic substances to the diet, after which there was prompt 

 formation of new bones. In the opinion of Wolbach and Howe : "The 

 scorbutic state may be characterized as one affecting supporting tissues 

 in which the cells are unable to produce and maintain intercellular 

 substances. This condition affects various supporting substances to a 

 different degree, and is most marked in those in which the intercellular 

 substance is calcified, as the dentin of teeth and the matrix of bone. 

 The characterization applies to cartilage and connective tissue, and, by 

 inference, to other intercellular substances, including that of blood 

 vessels. The hypothesis is entertained, based upon the study of repair 

 in incisor teeth of scorbutic guinea pigs, that in the formation of inter- 

 cellular substances there is a change of the material from a liquid to 

 a solid or jell state, and that the missing factor in the scorbutic condi- 

 tion is one affecting the jelling or setting of the liquid product." 



This theory corresponds closely with the conclusion of Aschoff and 

 Koch (1919) on the basis of an extensive study of scurvy in man that 



