440 DISEASE IN WILD MAMMALS AND BIRDS 
alcoholic extract of rice polishings. Funk (24) later 
determined the vitamine character of this extract. In 
pigeons and fowls experimental feeding usually results 
in the chronic or polyneuritic form, expressed by a typical 
degenerative inflammatory condition of the peripheral 
nerves. In pigs, on the contrary, Rommel and 
Vedder(25) produced both types, though the acute or 
wet beriberi appeared more frequently. In rats the same 
deficiency causes multiple hemorrhages in the cerebellum 
and midbrain followed by a degeneration of the associ- 
ated nervous structures. It is possible that the pathol- 
ogy following a lack of the vitamine B or in fact any of 
the \T.tamines \\i.ll vary with the different species or 
Tvith varying demands of different individuals. This 
antineuritic vitamine affects more than the nervous 
system, and it is possible that all \itamines may have 
A\ider effects than are at present described. 
Scurvy was the first condition to call attention to diet 
as a cause of disease. It occurs in man when deprived 
of fresh vegetables. That faulty diet was in some way 
the cause of scur\^ has been known for many years, 
but only since 1905 has there been any systematic attempt 
to determine the peculiar value of the curative foods. At 
this time Theobald Smith (26) called attention to a 
disease suggestive of scur\^^ which developed in guinea- 
pigs fed on a diet of oatmeal. This observation was con- 
firmed by Hoist and Frolich(27) who stated that the 
disease could be prevented by the addition of fresh milk 
or cabbage, because in these foods there was present an 
antiscorbutic or C vitamine. This unidentified substance 
was easily destroyed or diminished by heat or an alkaline 
medium. It was found in rather large amounts in 
succulent vegetables and fruits. McCollum(28) and his 
(24) Lancet, London, 1911, II, 1266. 
(25) Bull., Dept. of Agriculture, Dec. 13, 1915. 
(26) Bureau of Animal Industry, 1895-96, 172. 
(27) Z. Hyg. u. Infektionskrankh., 1913, LXXV, 334. 
(28) Jour. Biol. Chem., 1917, XXXI, 229. 
