AmMJa0yUri9Pi9arm' ^     Pacts  Re9ardin9  Antiscorbutics.  311 
includes  the  cabbage,  perhaps  the  most  potent  of  all  antiscorbutic 
vegetables  investigated. 
In  the  case  of  adults  living  under  conditions  in  which  fresh  foods 
are  not  available,  a  belief  in  the  antiscorbutic  potency  of  the  juice  of 
the  West  Indian  lime  has  been  cherished  for  decades.  Arctic  ex- 
plorers, ships  starting  on  long  voyages  without  access  to  land,  and 
expeditions  away  from  sources  of  appropriate  food  supplies  have 
been  accustomed  to  be  equipped  with  lime  juice  preserved  in  various 
ways ;  and  there  are  records  to  show  that  vigorous  steps  were  some- 
times taken  to  enforce  the  actual  injection  of  the  dosage  as  ordered. 
The  efficacy  of  this  preventative  therapy  has  been  far  from  uni- 
versal ;  and  an  explanation  seems  to  be  afforded  by  recent  investiga- 
tions, also  conducted  at  Lister  Institute,  by  Chick4  and  her  co- 
workers, to  whom  we  are  already  indebted  for  valuable  contributions 
to  the  prevention  of  scurvy.  Preserved  lime  juice  was  found  useless 
for  the  prevention  of  scurvy  by  the  methods  employed.  The  fresh 
limes  have  some  potency ;  but  it  has  now  been  shown  that,  volume 
for  volume,  their  juice  is  only  about  one  fourth  as  effective  as  is 
lemon  juice.  Curiously  enough,  a  historical  study  of  the  reported 
cures  of  scurvy  with  lime  juice  shows  that  the  agent  employed  in 
several  authenticated  cases  was  in  reality  the  juice  of  the  lemon. 
There  are  instances  of  severe  scorbutic  outbreaks  despite  the  liberal 
use  of  lime  juice.  This  demonstrated  virtue  of  the  lemon,  a  fruit 
so  widely  employed  in  the  household  in  modern  life,  affords  an  added 
illustration  of  the  unique  value  of  many  items  of  diet,  like  certain 
fruits  and  green  vegetables,  for  which  we  pay  a  high  price  despite 
the  fact  that  they  give  no  equivalent  return  in  calories.  Instinct- 
ively, perhaps,  we  have  come  to  include  in  our  dietaries  articles  of 
food  which  have  a  high  physiologic  value  that  cannot  be  measured 
in  the  current  term  of  food  units. 
4  Chick,  Harriette,  Hume,  E.  Margaret,  Skelton,  Ruth  R,  and  Smith, 
Alice  H.,  "  The  Relative  Content  of  Antiscorbutic  Principle  in  Limes  and 
Lemons,  Together  with  Some  New  Facts  and  Some  Old  Observations  Con- 
cerning the  Value  of  '  Lime  Juice  '  in  the  Prevention  of  Scurvy,"  Lancet,  2, 
735  (November  30),  1918. 
