256 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
A recent striking illustration of the lack of fresh 
vegetables in the diet is reported in connection with the 
Indian troops in Mesopotamia. From “July 1, to Decem- 
ber 81, 1916, 11,000 cases of scurvy occurred’? among 
them. The British met the condition by sending over a 
“Gardner’s Corps” of 256 men. Infantile scurvy, which 
is rather common in the United States, seems not to have 
been so well understood until recently. 
Stability.—The antiscorbutic vitamine is reported 
much less stable than the other two. Ordinary cooking 
probably destroys this to a considerable extent. Cab- 
bage,which will be recalled is very rich in C, lost 70 per 
cent of its antiscorbutic value on being cooked one hour 
at 60°C. or twenty minutes at 90° to 100°C., and over 
90 per cent when cooked for one hour at 90°C. Potatoes 
cooked at 100°C. for fifteen minutes were effective anti- 
scorbutics, but when cooked for one hour had lost this 
property. Long cooking at low temperature seems more 
injurious than quick cooking at higher temperatures. With 
young vegetables cooked while fresh the loss of vitamine 
is not so complete. 
Added acids or alkalis hasten the destruction of 
water-soluble C. 
In line with these results canned fruits and veget- 
ables have been found so far to retain little if any of their 
antiscorbutic value. Tomatoes seem to be an exception 
to this and commercial canned tomatoes retain a consider- 
able abundance of this factor. They are being very suc- 
cessfully used in infant feeding. A teaspoonful of the 
juice may be fed to babies only a few weeks old and 
the amount can safely be increased as the child grows 
older. 
Drying also practically destroys the antiscorbutic 
properties of most foods. Orange and tomato juice 
seem to be exceptional in this regard, though dried veg- 
etables practically without exception are valueless. 
Young vegetables blanched and dried while still very 
fresh retain some of this power for a short time. 
Nutritive Results without C.—A diet deficient in water- 
soluble C ultimately produces scurvy. This is probably 
the minor portion of the danger. 'Those who have given 
