At least two common diseases have been definitely identified with vitamine deficiency. One of them is beriberi, involving a general paralysis of the system, and due to lack of water-soluble B; and the other is scurvy, involving choppy gums and loose teeth, and due to lack of water-soluble C. We have reasons for believing that rickets, an infant disease, where the bones are underdeveloped, is due to deficiency of fat-soluble A, though so far the experiments do not seem as convincing as in the other two cases cited.

The work of Dr. Goldberger, of the U. S. Public Health Service, has clearly demonstrated that pellagra, a disease frequently met with in the South, is a deficiency disease. The absence of vitamines A and B, or rather their presence in the diet in insufficient amounts, has much to do with the onset of this disease, though Dr. Goldberger believes that deficiencies in the diet of ammo-acids and mineral salts are also contributing factors. Whether pellagra, one of the symptoms of which is a skin eruption, is due to lack of vitamines A and B, or to a lack of vitamines, certain amino-acids and certain mineral salts, or perhaps to a fourth as yet unidentified vitamine, is a subject for further study. That the absence of some one or several vitamines is a contributing factor is now generally conceded.

The vitamine that cures beriberi is called the antineuritic vitamine; that which cures rickets is the antirachitic vitamine; and the one which cures scurvy is the antiscorbutic vitamine.