510  Behavior  of  Certain  Vitamins.      {  Amj£°y  %^garm- 
There  is  evidence  that  unless  a  nursing  mother  is  obtaining  ade- 
quate amounts  of  the  first  two  vitamines  in  her  food  the  milk  she 
produces  is  deficient  in  these  bodies.  Adults  tolerate  lack  of  these 
substances  in  food  much  longer  than  young  growing  animals. 
It  is  clear  that  the  facts  of  which  a  brief  account  has  been  given 
above  are  of  much  importance  to  this  community,  and  should  be 
widely  known. 
THE  BEHAVIOR  OF  CERTAIN  VITAMINS.1 
A  recent  study  of  one  of  the  dietary  essentials  of  vitamins  which 
McCollum  has  designated  temporarily  as  "  water-soluble  B  "  brings 
us  appreciably  nearer  to  a  more  precise  understanding  of  these 
unique  substances.  Ever  since  the  surprising  descriptions  of  the 
almost  miraculous  relief  of  animals  suffering  from  experimental 
polyneuritis  by  the  administration  of  extremely  small  quantities  of 
substances  derived  from  rice  polishings  and  other  sources,  the 
curiosity  of  both  the  physiologist  and  the  clinician  has  been  aroused 
at  the  possible  chemical  nature  and  mode  of  action  of  these  so-called 
vitamins.  Enough  data  furnished  by  competent  workers  now  exist 
to  indicate  how  essential  these  as  yet  unidentified  components  of  the 
diet  are  for  the  physiologic  well-being  of  the  individual.  Without 
certain  additions,  otherwise  adequate  mixtures  of  the  familiar  nu- 
trients, proteins,  fats,  carbohydrates  and  inorganic  salts  will  -  not 
suffice  to  induce  satisfactory  nutrition.  These  additions  or  vi- 
tamins, are  widely  distributed  in  the  most  diverse  natural  products. 
The  absence  of  the  dietary  essentials  results  in  nutritive  decline,  and 
a  variety  of  pathologic  consequences  which  are  just  beginning  to  be 
recognized  as  indications  of  the  dietary  deficiences.  McCollum  and 
Simmonds2  have  found  that  the  water-soluble  B,  the  vitamin  that 
averts  symptoms  of  polyneuritis  when  the  diet  is  otherwise  adequate, 
can  be  extracted  from  diverse  plant  and  animal  sources  by  the  use 
of  alcohol.  This  procedure  liberates  the  vitamin,  so  that  it  becomes 
soluble  in  organic  solvents  like  benzene,  with  which  it  cannot  be  ex- 
tracted from  its  original  sources.  Thus  it  has  been  found  that  the 
water-soluble  B  is  not  extracted  directly  from  beans,  wheat  germ,  or 
1  From  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  April  6,  1918. 
2  McCollum,  E.  V.,  and  Simmonds,  Nina,  "  A  Study  of  the  Dietary  Essen- 
tial. Water-Soluble  B,  in  Relation  to  its  Solubility  and  Stability  Towards 
Reagents,"  Jour.  Biol.  Chem.,  1918,  33,  55. 
