This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ...vitamin with oxidative processes. He found that the catalase content of tissues of pigeons on a diet of polished rice falls until it reaches its lowest level at the acute stage of polyneuritis, a result which is in accord with Ramoino''s 109 observation that the respiratory quotient falls in avian polyneuritis, but when extracts of rice bran are added and the pigeons have started to recover the respiratory quotient increases to normal. On administration of antineuritic B the catalase likewise tended to return to normal. Dutcher believes that the vitamin does not itself act as a direct activator of catalase but stimulates the organism to greater production of this enzyme. In this connection Bachman''s 110 statement that vitamins are essential for the growth of anaerobic yeasts while an aerobic yeast grew readily in a synthetic medium without the addition of vitamin is interesting. Findlay110" has recently confirmed Dutcher''s observation that the glyoxalase content of the liver is less in pigeons with beriberi than in the control birds and concludes that the vitamin does not act as a co-enzyme of glyoxalase. Tschirch''s theory of the biological function of vitamins111 in building up the animal organism, is as follows: The organism cannot, unaided, synthesize from aliphatic amino acids such cyclo compounds as, e. g., purine and pyrimidine bases, which are so essential in the formation of nucleic acids, or cellular nuclei. The synthesis, however, takes place in presence of enzyme-like substances, "Cyclokeiases," i. e., " ring closers," which contain, or perhaps are identical with the vitamins themselves.112 los Dutcher, J. Biol. Chem. 36, 63, 547, 1919. 10 Ramoino, Arch. Ital. biol. 65, 1, 1916-17. 110 Bachman, J. Biol....