180 THE VITAMINS 



postpone scurvy but seems to delay its appearance. An increase in the 

 meat rations for the Indians and the development of vegetable gardens 

 for the stationary troops caused scurvy practically to disappear from 

 Mesopotamia. Willcox in commenting on this same outbreak attributed 

 the greater immunity to scurvy of the w^hite troops in part to the slight 

 antiscorbutic value of the fresh meat which they consumed and in 

 part to the fact that they had previously been accustomed to a varied 

 diet containing ample antiscorbutics whereas the previous food habits 

 of the Indian troops had resulted in their being in many cases already 

 on the border line of scurvy. While the fresh meat was believed to 

 have undoubted value it was of course here as in much other experience 

 recognized as being but a poor antiscorbutic. 



The occurrence of beriberi among the white troops and the com- 

 plete absence of it in the Indian troops during the same siege was 

 attributed chiefly to the use of ration biscuits or white bread by the 

 former and atta (flour containing the wheat embryo) by the latter 

 troops. One of the measures taken to improve the dietary of the British 

 troops was the incorporation of 25 per cent of atta in the bread. 



The urgent need of more exact knowledge of the antiscorbutic 

 values of foodstuffs of practical war-time utility led to a systematic 

 survey (principally at the Lister Institute, London, and simultaneously 

 to a lesser extent in other laboratories) of the commoner foodstuffs 

 with respect to their relative value as antiscorbutics, and to studies of 

 methods of stabilizing and concentrating the vitamin for practical use. 



The methods used at the Lister Institute were essentially a develop- 

 ment of those of Hoist with the exception that a daily ration of 60 

 cubic centimeters of milk autoclaved at 120° C. for one hour was added 

 to the basal ration of oats and bran. This addition was found to im- 

 prove greatly the general condition of the guinea pigs without greatly 

 influencing the onset of scurvy. In view of later findings it appears 

 (Hess, 1920) that small but varying amounts of the antiscorbutic vita- 

 min may remain in such autoclaved milk which would detract somewhat 

 from the exact quantitative value of the results. 



Fruits and Vegetables. — A study by these methods of the relative 

 antiscorbutic values of the juices of limes and lemons (Chick, Hume, 

 and Skelton, 1918b) led to the conclusion that lemon juice is about 

 four times as rich in antiscorbutic vitamin as is lime juice, and that 

 preserved lime juice is not to be depended upon for prevention of 

 scurvy. These results are of interest in view of the traditional use of 

 "lime juice" as an antiscorbutic. Historical investigation (A. Hender- 

 son Smith, 1919) indicated that the actual material to which the term 



