42 



Scientific Proceedings (iio). 



of skimmed milk, either in fluid or solid form, and still be nearly- 

 devoid of the fat soluble vitamine. According to our experience, 

 skimmed milk contains a very significant amount of fat soluble 

 vitamine, probably about half as much as whole milk as Mc- 

 Collum's brief statement would imply. 



Our experimental evidence of the presence of significant 

 amounts of fat soluble vitamine or "vitamin A" in skimmed milk 

 is two-fold, (i) Young rats placed at weaning upon a diet in 

 which dried skimmed milk was the sole source of vitamines have 

 grown steadily (though at less than the maximum rate) for three 

 months or more, trebling their body weights and remaining free 

 from eye disease and in good general condition. Such results in 

 rats of this age can be obtained only on diets furnishing significant 

 amounts of "vitamin A." (2) Rats which had been brought to 

 the typical condition of declining body weight and characteristic 

 eye disease due to deficiency of fat soluble vitamine in their food 

 have been cured by the feeding of skimmed milk powder. [A 

 third type of experiment may be mentioned which, while it would 

 not be conclusive alone, affords interesting confirmation. Rats 

 which had failed to grow upon a diet of white bread, grew with 

 extraordinary rapidity for some time (though not to full adult 

 size) when the bread was supplemented by dried skimmed milk 

 only. The latter of course supplemented the bread in several 

 ways, but unless the skimmed milk had furnished important 

 amounts of fat soluble vitamine such rapid and extensive growth 

 would hardly have been possible.] 



2. Fat- soluble Vitamine in Growth and Reproduction. — The 

 results of our experiments are entirely consistent with previous 

 findings that fat soluble vitamine is essential to growth and indicate 

 further that the proportion of this vitamine in the food may have 

 quite as striking an influence upon reproduction as upon growth. 



3. Storage of Fat-soluble Vitamine in the Body. — While a moder- 

 ate concentration of this vitamine in a diet excellent in all other 

 respects suffices to support normal growth, and a more liberal 

 supply of the vitamine may not then affect the growth rate, it 

 appears that a surplus of the vitamine above the immediate 

 needs of growth or maintenance may be largely stored in the body 

 and subsequently utilized to meet the needs of reproduction and 



