VITAMINES 



39 



relative quantity of either, when present, being 

 indicated by the number of plus signs: 



Fat-soluble. 

 A. 



Water-soluble. 

 B. 



Wheat embryo 

 bran . 

 endosperm 



Lean Meat 



Egg Yolk 



Milk .*." 



Butter . 



Vegetable Fats 



Cabbage . 



Potatoes . 



Yeast 



The absence of the fat-soluble vitamine from 

 vegetable fats is not due to its absence from the 

 vegetable structures (seeds, etc.) from which the fats 

 are derived, but to the fact that it is left behind 

 when the fats and oils are expressed or extracted. 

 It is abundant in butter, and is present, as I have 

 said, in most animal fats, but it is, strange to say, 

 absent or said to be absent from lard. Now of 

 the water-soluble substance there is one statement 

 which I think can to-day be safely made. It is 

 of special interest because it links these animal 

 experiments with human experience. The water- 

 soluble vitamine proved requisite for growth is the 

 very substance which is necessary for the preven- 

 tion of beri-beri. It is the substance which rice 

 loses when it is " polished." 



I return to beri-beri for a moment. One of the 

 special characteristics of that disease is a dis- 



