Abstract
A recent communication 1 reported that the proteins of meat (dried skeletal muscle) and of a glandular tissue, liver, are adequate for the needs of nutrition in growth. The muscle contains a comparatively small quantity only of the water-soluble vitamine that is an essential dietary factor, whereas liver tissue, on the other hand, was found to be much richer in this. We have further observed a similar adequacy of the proteins of heart, kidney and brain tissue. The growth of rats to adult size has been secured upon diets in which these tissues, used desiccated, furnished the sole source of protein and water-soluble vitamine. In the cases of the liver, kidney and heart, at least, fat-soluble vitamine also seems to be present. The ether extract of pig's liver—liver oil—has manifested growth-promoting properties comparable to those described for butter fat and cod-liver oil; and it appears to be efficient as a curative agent for the type of eye disease which we have described to occur when animals are kept on a diet deficient in the fat-soluble vitamine. The details will be published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
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