THE MAGIC OF VITAMINES

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4442, 19 July 1922, Page 2

THE MAGIC OF VITAMINES

INTERESTING FOOD LORE

“A marvel of lucidity” was the description given by Sir John Collie (who presided) to a lecture given at the Regent Street Polytechnic by Professor Harden, ofl the University of London and lecturer at ,t'he Lister. Institute, to an audience of London teachers on the subject of “Vitamines,” the mysterious anti unidentified substances which he said had in recent times been found so necessary to life, states an English exchange. He described the experiments at Cambridge by Professor Hopkins on rats. On a certain diet the rodents would not grow, but wasted away and died. This was due to the absence of vit.imines from the fporl. Given butter and yeast, however, they began tP thrive and grew.

It was found, as a result of the research work, that quite a small quantity of cabbage leaf or milk would keep a guinea pig in good health. The absence of the same vital factor was probably one of the main factors in the cause of rickets. This was important on account of the large number of children who suffered from this t'ouble; Lard scarcely ever contained vitamines, while cod liver oil might be two hundred times as potent in vitamines as butter. In green vegetables they were present in considerable quantities. They were also to be found in egg yolk, but not in the white of the egg, but they were entirely absent from, margarine, except oleo 'margarine, which contained a certain amount of the fat o' 1 animals which had been fed on vegetables. Other foods the lecturer enumerate! as containing vitamines in greater or small quantity were oil seeds, carrots, orange- and lemon juices, and tomi-i toes, while -swedes and turnips in particular contained a certain kind of vitamine. Potatoes were a strong protection against scurvy, not. because they were rich in anti-scorbutic, but because of the large quantity people ate. Their scarcity during a period of the war accounted tor tiie outbreaks o’ - that disease. The place of honour, however, in the quantity of vitamines was taken by cod liver oil, and not, as some imagined, by butterWith regard to the action of heat on vit-imines, the professor said that hea t itself had not much effect upon them, but heat in the presence of air was another matter. Another point of interest mentioned was that the eye disease J n Denmark during tho war was found to be due to skimmed milk only being given to children owing to butter b-?’ng made and sold out of the country. When in time they had to eat butter the disease disappeared.