5o8 
V  it  amines. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1 918. 
cent,  alcohol,  and  is  adsorbed  by  fullers'  earth  or  animal  charcoal. 
It  survives  a  good  deal  of  cooking  at  ioo°  C,  but  is  slowly  destroyed 
at  1200.  It  is  resistant  to  5  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid.  Funk  has 
proposed  for  it  the  name  "  the  anti-beri-beri  vitamine "  and  this 
term  "  vitamine,"  although  open  to  many  objections,  has  been  widely 
adopted  for  substances  of  this  type.  The  name  "  sitacoid,"  mean- 
ing a  medicine-like  substance  associated  with  food,  is  suggested  by 
the  writer  as  accurately  descriptive  and  not  implying  a  knowledge 
of  their  chemical  characters  which  we  do  not  possess. 
Most  foodstuffs  contain  adequate  amounts  of  the  anti-beri-beri 
substance  but,  it  is  important  to  note,  white  flour,  polished  rice,  and 
arrowroot,  and  probably  also  "  corn-flour,"  and  much  of  what  is  sold 
as  sago,  tapioca,  and  semolina,  contain  more.  Ordinary  white 
bread  doubtless  contains  a  little  derived  from  its  yeast,  but  certainly 
not  enough  for  health  unless  supplemented  by  other  foodstuffs. 
Wheat-bran  contains  a  little,  wheat-embryo  contains  a  good  deal. 
It  has  also  been  discovered,  thanks  mainly  to  the  pioneer  re- 
searches of  Hopkins,  Stepp,  Osborne  and  Mendel,  and  McCollum 
and  his  collaborators,  that  rats  and  mice  require  not  only  the  anti- 
beri-beri  substance  in  their  diet,  but  at  least  one  other  vitamine  or 
sitacoid,  and  in  its  absence  get  sore  eyes  (xerophthalmia)  and  are 
unable  to  grow.  It  will  be  convenient  to  refer  to  this  as  the  anti- 
sore-eyes  substance  (McCollum's  fat-soluble  A). 
As  found  in  animal  substances,  it  is  slightly  soluble  in  water, 
but  much  more  so  in  oils,  ether,  and  hot  alcohol.  It  is  very  re- 
sistant to  ordinary  cooking  operations,  but  is  slowly  destroyed  by 
prolonged  exposure  to  daylight.  It  has  not  been  identified  with 
any  of  the  chemically  known  constituents  of  plants  or  animals.  It 
is  either  completely  free  from  phosphorus  and  nitrogen  or,  alterna- 
tively, it  is  active  in  incredibly  minute  amounts.  As  found  in  the 
higher  plants  it  is  insoluble  in  ether,  oil,  or  hot  alcohol.  The  rela- 
tions between  the  plant  and  the  animal  anti-sore-eyes  substances 
have  not  yet  been  ascertained.  Proved  to  be  indispensable  for  mice 
and  rats,  and  especially  for  the  growth  of  the  young,  there  are 
strong  reasons  also  for  suspecting  it  to  be  equally  indispensable  for 
man.  It  is  present  in  quantity  in  yolk  of  egg,  codliver  oil,  all  ani- 
mal fats  investigated  (with  the  remarkable  exception  of  lard),  milk, 
cheese,  butter,  margarine  made  from  animal  fats,  green  leaves,  soya 
beans,  millet,  and  flax  seed.  It  is  absent  from  lard  and  all  vegetable 
oils  (almond,  maize,  cottonseed,  sunflower  seed,  linseed,  and  soya 
