The Influence of the Diet of the Cow and the Effect of Heat Upon the Antiscorbutic Potency of Milk

Inroduction: For a long time there has been a belief among scientific investigators and medical men that certain diseases, both of man and animal were the direct result of a faulty diet. In other words, something which was needed by the body for maintenance of growth and health was thought to be frequently lacking in the diet of man and animal. Attention was first called to these accessory substances thru investigations into the cause of the disease beri-beri. In 1884, the Japanese Navy, under the direction of Admiral Takaki, positively demonstrated that beri-beri was the result of a faulty diet, but it was Eijkman who first produced the disease experimentally in birds. Hopkins first spoke of food accessories about 1908. He had tried to feed young animals with diets of purified protein, carbohydrates, fat, and mineral and had met with failure. When the same diet was supplemented with small additions of milk, growth was promoted. It has just been stated how he called the unknown substances furnished by the milk, “accessory food substances. The name vitamin owes its origin to Casimir Funk. In attempting to isolate the unknown substance, he found it in a nitrogen base. Since the factor was apparently vital and necessary, he coined the word “vitamine” (vital-amine). This name was at first applied only to the necessary substance, preventing the disease beri-beri. (See more in text