SYISTTHETIC VITAMINS — MAJOR 



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tothenate that has occurred with increasing use. Note that it was 

 first made available just two years ago — in 1940. 



There are a number of other vitamins that may be termed parts of 

 the vitamin B complex. Among them are inositol which Dr. Woolley, 

 of the Rockefeller Institute, observed has certain effects on the hair of 

 mice, p-aminobenzoic acid which was proposed as a vitamin by another 

 New Yorker, choline, and biotin. There are others, but they appear 

 to be of still less importance, at least at this time. 



1940 1941 1942 



FiGUBE G. — Calcium pantothenate. 



Two fat-soluble vitamins have been synthesized. One of these, 

 vitamin K, is generally used in two forms — first as vitamin Kj, and 

 second as 2-methylnaphthoquinone. Both of these compounds de- 

 crease the clotting time of the blood and are used in patients before 

 operations, particularly in people suffering from jaundice, and also at 

 childbirth. 



The other synthetic fat-soluble vitamin, vitamin E, or a-tocophe- 

 rol, is essential for proper reproduction in rats, but its value in human 

 beings is quite uncertain. It may be of value in the correction of 

 human sterility ; and it may be important in the treatment of certain 

 neuromuscular disorders. 



DEVELOPMENT OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF SYNTHETIC VITAMINS 



Scurvy, a disease caused by lack of vitamin C, has been recognized 

 for many, many years. It was a scourge to those who traveled long 

 distances by boat until quite modern times. Many sailors and pas- 

 sengers on long voyages before the nineteenth century died of this 

 disease before they reached their journey's end. But in 1804 the regu- 

 lar issue of a ration of lemon juice was made compulsory in the British 

 Navy and thereafter scurvy was a comparatively rare disease among 



