Abstract
Preliminary experiments by the senior author had demonstrated that pancreatic vitamine is removed very completely by treating the containing extract with Lloyd's reagent (50 g. Lloyd to 1 liter of extract). When the activated Lloyd powder is dried it retains its power as a vitamine carrier and in case of rats exercises the same power as water solutions of vitamine.
Basing work upon the above fact, attempts were made to restore to growth marasmic children, by mixing activated Lloyd powder with their cereal. In these studies Dr. Roper assisted in selecting the children from the wards of the New York Hospital and in directing their treatment.
Experiments were begun in October and the treatment has now been applied to ten babies, including one furnished by the Babies Hospital through the kindness of Dr. Bartlett.
In all the cases the addition of the powder has been followed by increased growth of a normal tissue-forming type. In the case at the Babies Hospital this growth was the first normal increase since July 25.
In one case at the New York Hospital the child was being fed on cereal and condensed milk. This case was selected for special control study. For this purpose five rats were selected and fed with the same cereal and condensed milk as the child. The effect of adding or omitting vitamine to the diet of the rats and child are shown in the following table.
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