Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
July,  1920.  I 
The  Truth  About  Vitamines. 
471 
moved  during  milling,  the  diet  so  formed  is  capable  of  preventing 
the  disease.  The  following  list  of  food-stuffs  is  arranged  in  order 
of  merit  so  far  as  their  anti-beri-beri  value  is  concerned:  Rice 
germ,  wheat  germ,  lentils,  yeast  (pressed),  egg  yolk  and  ox  liver 
(equal),  peas  (dried),  wheat  bran,  beef  muscle,  potatoes. 
With  reference  to  the  effects  of  heat  upon  vitamine  B  it  may  be 
said  that,  broadly  speaking,  heat  has  no  marked  detrimental  action, 
till  temperatures  of  over  100°  C.  are  reached.  Even  prolonged  ex- 
posure to  temperatures  of  less  than  100°  C.  has  little  or  no  effect, 
but  when  this  temperature  is  exceeded,  especially  if  by  more  than 
20°,  rapid  deterioration  is  observed.  It  follows,  then,  that  bread, 
biscuits,  etc.,  should  be  baked  at  a  temperature  not  exceeding  100° 
C. ;  as  also  that  tinned  foods  of  all  descriptions,  exposed  as  they  are 
for  various  reasons  to  high  temperatures,  are  almost  wholly  lacking 
in  vitamines. 
Now  let  us  return  to  vitamine  A.  We  may  say  that  there  is 
irresistable  evidence- — of  a  similar  kind  to  that  already  briefly  re- 
counted in  connection  with  vitamines  B  and  C — to  precipitate  the 
conclusion  that  vitamine  A  is  the  "cure"  for  rickets  and  other  wasting 
diseases,  and  is  conveniently  described  as  "anti-rachitic"  vitamine. 
Experiments  made  upon  puppies  show  that  diets  I  and  II  prevented 
rickets,  while  diets  III  and  IV  did  not. 
Diet    I. — ^Whole  milk,  porridge,  rice,  NaCl. 
Diet  II.— Whole  milk,  white  bread,  NaCl. 
Diet  III. — Separated  milk,  white  bread,  linseed  oil,  yeast,  NaCl. 
Diet  IV, — Separated  milk,  white  bread,  linseed  oil,  yeast,  orange 
juice,  NaCl. 
Experiments  made  in  great  numbers  confirm  the  conclusion  that 
rickets  is  caused  by  the  absence  from  an  otherwise  perfect  diet  of 
certain  fats  and  other  substances  (vide  supra),  and  may  be  cured  by  a 
restoration  to  the  diet  of  these  food-stuffs.  The  theoretical  con- 
clusion is  that  ricket-preventing  food-stuffs  contain  a  hypothetical 
substance  called  "Vitamine  A,"  or  "anti-rachitic  vitamine,"  sup- 
posed also  to  be  fat  soluble. 
The  effect  of  heat  upon  anti-rachitic  substances  is  important. 
They  are  the  most  stable  of  all  the  vitamine  foods  in  the  presence 
of  heat.  Thus  butter  is  de- vitaminized  by  exposure  to  a  temperature 
of  100°  only  after  four  hours.  The  "hardening"  of  oils  by  the  action 
of  nascent  hydrogen  is  a  swift  and  certain  means  of  destroying  their 
vitamines. 
