lO 
CHEMISTRY: R. A. BUTCHER 
Proc. N. a. S. 
diction from the curve based on body weight alone is of equal value with 
that from the formula, taking into consideration not only weight but also 
stature and age. This is probably in large part explained by the fact that 
with boys the changes in age, weight, and stature are closely correlated. 
^ Harris and Benedict, Carnegie Inst., Washington, Pub., No. 279, 1919; see also 
these Proceedings, 4, 1918 (370-373). 
THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF THE ANTINEURITIC 
VITAMINE' 
By R. Adams Dutcher - 
Section oe Animai. Nutrition, Division of Agricultural Biochemistry, Minnesota 
Agricultural Experiment Station 
Communicated by W. A. Noyes, November 17, 1919 
Introductory. — Prior to and immediately following the year 1897 various 
theories were advanced by different investigators relative to the etiology 
of the oriental disease known as beri-beri. The merits and demerits of 
the various theories extant at that period are discussed in a very com- 
prehensive way by W. L. Braddon in his book, "The Cause and Prevention 
of Beri-Beri." It will suffice to say that the prevailing theories held at 
that time explained the etiology of the disease in terms of bacteria, bacterial 
poisons, or poisons contained within the food. 
During the years 1889 to 1897 Eijkman and his colleagues had ad- 
vanced the study of the disease to the point where they were able to 
demonstrate that beri-beri could be produced at will on a diet consisting 
solely of polished rice, but that a cure could be effected and a recurrence 
of the disease prevented by the use of hand-milled rice. Eijkman"^ also 
showed that a disease similar to human beri-beri could be produced in 
fowls by diets composed of polished rice and that the paral3rtic symptoms 
disappeared upon the administration of rice polishings or alcoholic ex- 
tracts of rice polishings. Schaumann,^ in 1910, introduced a phosphorus- 
deficiency theory, basing his convictions upon the fact that all curative 
foodstuffs possessed a high percentage of phosphorus, while in the case of 
the non-curative foods the reverse seemed to be true. Schaumann be- 
lieved the organic phosphorus -containing compounds to be essential in 
the treatment of beri-beri. This theory was propounded at a time when 
a great deal of importance was being attached to the lipoid content of the 
dietary. Other writers^' ^ have shown that a parallelism exists between 
the phosphorus content of cereals and their vitamine activity, but this 
parallelism is considered to be fortuitous rather than an actual chemical 
relationship. 
Views Concerning Its Chemical Characteristics. — In 1911 Funk^ announced 
