SYNTHETIC VITAMINS — MAJOR 287 



Industry contributes to pure science by financially supporting 

 research in universities and research institutes. It has made special 

 chemicals, facilities for large-scale work, bioassays, and other expen- 

 sive analyses and assays available to academic workers. It is very 

 important that this work be continued, and it is very important too 

 that it be continued to the mutual satisfaction of both the parties con- 

 cerned. To attain this it is essential that the two groups understand 

 what each is trying to achieve. The primary purposes of the aca- 

 demic institutions, of course, are the training of youth and the expan- 

 sion and extension of man's mental horizons. These purposes are 

 significant and important. The purpose and reason for the existence 

 of the manufacturing industries are, of course, to manufacture and 

 sell something that people want and need — in other words, to satisfy 

 demands for some article or material. In doing this patents play an 

 extremely important role. Patent protection on a new process or 

 product is often necessary to obtain the money necessary for the 

 equipment and facilities required to begin manufacture. Many writ- 

 ers state that the American patent system is responsible in no small 

 measure for the remarkable development of American industry. 

 However, the subject of patents is one on which the views of many 

 acadamic investigators and industrial research investigators and busi- 

 ness men differ widely. To achieve any real cooperation it is most 

 important that both academic and industrial scientists achieve as thor- 

 ough an understanding as possible of the purposes, benefits, and 

 limitations of our American patent system. 



In conclusion some general comments on the significance and social 

 value of this food accessory business, the manufacture of synthetic 

 vitamins, may be of interest. Through Claude R. Wickard, Secretary 

 of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Government has 

 issued a little pamphlet entitled "Food Will Win the War and Write 

 the Peace." It states : 



Food is a whole arsenal of weapons in this struggle for human freedom. It 

 is the driving force behind high production by munition workers, and top-notch 

 performances and strong morale among soldiers and sailors. 



Somewhat in the same vein, Russell M. Wilder of the Mayo Clinic 

 and former chairman of the committee on food and nutrition of the 

 National Research Council has written : 



Famine has always contributed to defeat of armies and subjugation of nations. 

 This has long been recognized, but in the past it was mistakenly thought that 

 famine could be prevented if only the supply of food sufficed. The newer 

 knowledge teaches that the nutritive quality of the foods supplied is of the utmost 

 importance. . . . Caloric energy is needed, but no more than much else in 

 food. . . . The new knowledge of nutrition has emphasized particularly the 

 importance of what once were called accessory factors, namely salts and vita- 

 mins. . . . Vitamin deficiencies constitute the principal "hidden hungers," sub- 

 clinical abnormalities which imtil lately, for the most part, were unrecognized. 



