454 AMERICAN
NUigBF,a 12
significance with respect to the mechanism of hydro-
chloric acid secretion.
SUMMARY
During the rapid secretion of hydrochloric acid by
the gastric mucosa, appreciable differences in the
chloride concentration in the arterial and gastric
venous blood were observed only occasionally; these
differences were mainly in the cell chloride.
REFERENCES
1. Hanke, M. E., Johannesen, R, E. and Hanke, Maude M.: Alkalinity
of Gastric Venous Blood D u r i n g Gastric Secretion. Proc. Soc.
Exper. Biol, and Med., 28:698-700, March, 1931.
The Value of Meat as an Antiscorbutic
VICTOR E. LEVINE, M.D.
INTRODUCTION
R. V I L H J A L M U R S T E F A N S S O N in a communi-
D cation to SCIENCE, entitled "The Dilemma in
Vitamins," calls attention to a difference of opinion
between the field observer and the experimental nu-
tritionist on the subject of scurvy with reference to
meat as a preventive or curative. Upholding the
stand of the explorer, Dr. Stefansson asserts that
the records of travelers, field anthropologists and
frontiersmen, such as the managers of trading posts
in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company through-
out the north of Canada, abound in case histories,
which offer indisputable proof of the fact that ex-
clusive meat e a t e r s never develop the symptoms
characteristic of scurvy. It must be noted, however,
that in countries and climates where fruits and vege-
tables are available, animal food does not enter into
the problem of the prevention of scurvy.
Stefansson's views harmonize with his own ex-
periences in curing and in preventing scurvy among
his own Arctic companions by the consumption of
fresh meat (2, 3). In his very interesting volume,
THE F R I E N D L Y ARCTIC, he recounts how in 1917
he induced in his companions, Lorne Knight and
Harold Noice, rapid recovery from scurvy by the con-
sumption of fresh meat.
Stefansson makes the illuminating, significant and
judicious suggestion that Arctic and Antarctic ex-
plorers should not provide themselves with anti-
scorbutics in the form of fruits and vegetables. These
may prove a burden on the trail because of excessive
weight; they may be lost through accident; they may
in time undergo rapid diminution in antiscorbutic
potency. Fresh meat secured by "living off the land"
has all advantages and no disadvantages (4, 5).
However, it must be admitted that living off the
land with reference to the prevention of scurvy is no
longer an important problem for explorers, since they
now can supply themselves amply with synthetic
Vitamin C or ascorbic acid without any addition to
the weight of supplies and without much danger of
deterioration.
* F r o m the D e p a r t m e n t of Biological C h e m i s t r y and
Creighton University, School of Medicine, Omaha, Neb.
Submitted March 29, 1941.
JOURNAL OF D I G E S T I V E DISEASES VOLUM~ 8
2. Bulger, H. A., Allen, Duff r H a r r i s o n , L. B.: Studies of the
Chemical Mechanism of Hydrochloric Acid Secretion. II. Obser-
vations on the Blood P a s s i n g Through the Stomach of Dogs. J.
Clin. Invest., 5:561-571, June, 1928,
3. Peters, J. P. and Van Slyke, D. D . : Quantitative Clinical Chemistry.
Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Company, Vol. 2, p. 835, 1932.
4. Mann, F. D. and Mann, F, C.: An E x p e r i m e n t a l Study of Some
Chemical Inhibitors of Gastric Acidity. A m . J. Dig. Dis., 6:322-
325, July, 1939.
5. Bandes, J., Hollander, F. and Glickstein, J . : Effect of Fluid Ab-
sorption on Dilution Indicator Technique of Gastric Analysis.
A m . J. Physiol., 131:470-482, Dec, 1940.
6. Dodds, E. C. and Smith, K. Shirley: Variations in the Blood
Chlorides in Relation to Meals. P a r t 1. J. Physiol., 58:157-162,
Dec. 28, 1923.
7. Lira, R. K. S. and Ni, T. G.: Changes in the Blood Constituents
Accompanying Gastric Secretion. I. Chlorides. A m . J. Physiol.,
75:475-486, Jan., 1926.
By
OMAHA, N E B R A S K A
The experimental nutritionist is responsible for the
belief that meat is inefficacious as an antiscorbutic.
This viewpoint had its origin in the results obtained
in the biologic assay of its antiscorbutic value, utili-
zing the guinea pig as the test animal. The findings
of the nutritionist indicate that muscle meat has a
negligible quantity of Vitamin C, and that it possesses
therefore dubious value as a food to be utilized in the
prevention and cure of scurvy. The internal organs,
on the other hand, especially liver, are comparatively
rich in Vitamin C and do possess efficiency as anti-
scorbutics (6). Moreover, muscle meat of all soft
animal tissues the poorest in Vitamin C content, may
undergo considerable loss or even complete loss in
antiscorbutic potency as a result of oxidation, aided
by aging, by cooking, by the natural process of drying
or by the mechanical process of dehydrating.
Dr. Stefansson is not in accord with the findings of
the experimental nutritionists. He cites the case of
such meat eaters as the northern Athapascans who
punctiliously cook their food to an extent to which
nutritionists imply would practically destroy Vitamin
C potency. These northern Athapascans as well as
the northern Canadian Eskimos feed to dogs or throw
away most of the internal organs rich in Vitamin C.
Yet, according to Stefansson, neither these Eskimos
nor these Athapascans ever develop symptoms of
scurvy.
In attempting to solve the apparent dilemma be-
tween the animal experimenters and the observers of
diets among primitive peoples, Stefansson offers four
pertinent suggestions :
(1) "The experimenters reach unsound conclusions
with regard to human needs when they analogize for
Vitamin C from guinea pigs to human beings."
(2) "Those who measure the Vitamin C content of
animal tissues through the current methods have
probably overestimated from two to ten times the
amount necessary to prevent scurvy symptoms in man
- - o r perhaps they have underestimated the superi-
ority of the human over the guinea pig mechanism
for extracting and utilizing Vitamin C."
Nutrition, (3) "The experimenters have overestimated the
destructive effect of ordinary cooking upon the Vita-
 JOUR. D. D. L E V I N E - - T H E VALUE OF MEAT AS AN ANTISCORBUTIC
D~CEMBER, 1941
rain C efficiency of animal tissues--in all probability
the Vitamin C is greatly weakened or destroyed only
in the outermost layer of a piece of meat. Most
carnivorous people boil or roast their meat in large
pieces and cook to where the outside only is well done
while the inside of either boiled or roast is about like
the inside of our roasts. In such cooking the Vitamin
C efficiency may remain nearly or quite undiminished
through 90 per cent of the diameter of each chunk."
(4) "Or possibly t h e r e is some component of
animal tissue other than Vitamin C which is able to
prevent scurvy."
In discussing these suggestions we shall endeavor
to remove the dilemma.
V I T A M I N P AND ITS P O S S I B L E R E L A T I O N
TO SCURVY
With reference to the suggestion relating to the
probability of the presence of a component of animal
tissue other than Vitamin C which is capable of pre-
venting scurvy, it may be stated that Szent-Gyiirgi
and his coworkers reported in extracts of Hungarian
red pepper (paprika) and in lemon, grapefruit or
orange, or in the peelings from these citrus fruits, a
substance other than ascorbic acid which decreases
capillary fragility and capillary permeability (7, 8).
This substance, St. Ruzny~k and Szent-Gy5rgi (9)
claimed to be a flavonone in chemical nature, and
Bruckner and Szent-Gyhrgi (10) identified it as a
mixture of hesperidin (a glucoside of 4-methoxyeri-
odyctyol) and eriodyctyol glucoside (a glucoside of
5 : 7 : 3 : 4 : tetrahydroxyflavanone). Clinically this vita-
min, named Vitamin P (permeability factor), re-
turned fragile and permeable capillaries to their
normal state. Vitamin P deficiency may be part of
the picture of clinical scurvy.
Szent-Gyhrgi and his workers were able to control
the number of hemorrhages in the course of certain
clinical conditions, in three cases of vascular purpura,
in four cases of thrombocytopenic purpura, in seven
cases of infectious disease, and in two cases of dia-
betes me]litus. Experiments with scorbutic guinea
pigs indicated a prolongation of life for 28.5 to 44
days as a result of the administration of Vitamin P
and a decreased number of hemorrhages. Zilva (11)
and also Moll (12) working with guinea pigs were
unable to confirm these results. McHenry and P e r r y
(13) maintain that a deficiency of Vitamin P is not
a factor in producing hemorrhages in scorbutic guinea
pigs and that a deficiency of ascorbic acid is alone re-
sponsible for scurvy in these animals.
Results of other investigators on the other hand
point to another factor implicated with Vitamin C.
Jacobson (14) reported a lower concentration of
ascorbic acid in the adrenals of guinea pigs receiving
daily 20 milligrams of crystalline ascorbic acid than
in the same organs receiving an equal amount of
Vitamin C from cabbage. Fox and Levy (15) kept
four guinea pigs for two months on a basal diet plus
five milliliters of orange juice equivalent to 2.5 to 3.0
milligrams of ascorbic acid and found a retention of
0.5 gram of ascorbic acid per gram of adrenal tissue.
Five animals fed for three months a basal diet plus
lucerne leaves equivalent to 3.2 milligrams of ascorbic
acid per day showed an average storage of only 0.32
milligram per gram of adrenal tissue. The differ-
ence may be in the fact that orange juice is rich in
455
Vitamin P. Hawley, Daggs and Stephens (16) also
observed better retention of ascorbic acid in the tissue
of guinea pigs when the vitamin was ingested in the
natural form as cabbage, alfalfa and orange juice
than when administered in the form of crystalline
Vitamin C.
Very recently Todhunter, Robbins, Ivey and Brewer
(17) made a comparison of the utilization b y guinea
pigs of equivalent amounts of ascorbic acid in lemon
juice and in the crystalline form. They reported that
comparable amounts of ascorbic acid in aqueous so-
lution and as lemon juice made similar gains in weight
but those receiving lemon juice had fewer hemor-
rhages when scored for scurvy. The blood plasma
levels were the same in each group and there was no
appreciable difference in the ascorbic acid content of
the adrenals of each. Their data indicate the possi-
bility that lemon juice contains an additional factor
which is concerned in the prevention of the hemor-
rhages characteristic of scurvy. Zacho (18) studied
the influence of Vitamin P on the capillary resistance
of guinea pigs. Citrin (Vitamin P) showed distinct
powers of increasing capillary resistance, but the
simultaneous presence of both citrin and ascorbic acid
was necessary for the maintenance of normal capillary
resistance. Citrin also prevented intestinal hemor-
rhage in scorbutic guinea pigs. According to this
investigator the hemorrhagic diathesis in scorbutic
guinea pigs was largely due to lack of cit~in and that
the other scorbutic symptoms developed because of
lack of ascorbic acid.
Recently Scarborough (19) worked on human sub-
jects alone and confirmed the findings of Szent-Gyhrgi.
Scarborough was able to increase the capillary re-
sistance by the use of Vitamin P preparations. The
preparations showed potency by oral administration
and by rectal or intramuscular injection. The increase
in capillary resistance was induced in every case even
when ascorbic acid by mouth or by injection failed to
produce this result. Elmby and Warburg (20) have
found that ascorbic acid alone failed to cure the
hemorrhagic condition of human scurvy. It is inter-
esting to note that Jessild (21) reported Vitamin P
to be specific in the treatment of Schhnlein-Henoch
purpura.
In view of these newer findings, it may be argued
that the increased capillary fragility and the marked
tendency to bleeding in scurvy may not be due to lack
of Vitamin C, but to lack of Vitamin P. Both of these
compounds seem to be closely associated in foods, so
that the absence of Vitamin C may also parallel the
absence of Vitamin P, and may lead not only to the
development of scurvy, but to the hemorrhagic dia-
thesis as well. At present very little is known about
Vitamin P and its distribution in animal and plant
tissue. Tke various B vitamins are also closely asso-
ciated in foods, although in different proportions. Egg
white, however, contains riboflavin, but no Vitamin
B r Oranges and lemons are rich in both Vitamin C
and Vitamin P, yet grapefruit with an abundance of
Vitamin C is markedly poor in Vitamin P.
I N A C T I V A T I O N OF V I T A M I N C BY H E A T
With regards to the second" suggestion referring to
the relation of temperature to the destruction of Vita-
min C, Stefansson asserts correctly that the Vitamin
C is diminished in content or completely destroyed
456 AMERICAN JOURNAL
only in the outermost layer of a piece of meat not
thoroughly heated. He states that most carnivorous
people boil or roast their meat in large pieces and cook
them sufficiently long to get only the outside well
done, and in consequence of this procedure the Vita-
min C content may remain nearly or quite undi-
minished through 90 per cent of each chunk.
Some Eskimos prepare their meat in the white
man's way. But the great majority still boil large
pieces of meat in a pot of water obtained by melting
snow or ice in the winter time. When fuel is short
even this type of parboiling is dispensed with. Never-
thelessEskimos lose large amounts of Vitamin C even in
their crude and incomplete way of cooking. Hoygaard
and Rasmussen (22), using the chemical method in-
volving the reduction of 1,6-dichlorophenolindophenol,
found that raw seal meat contained 2 milligrams of
Vitamin C per 100 grams, while cooked seal meat may
lose at least 50 per cent of this vitamin content, partly
by oxidation and partly by solution in the water used
for cooking.
VITAMIN C POTENCY WITH REFERENCE
TO F R E E Z I N G
With reference to climatic conditions in the Arctic
it may also be well to keep in mind the effect of
freezing on the Vitamin C content of foods. The re-
lation of freezing to Vitamin C or ascorbic acid con-
tent has been studied by Tressler, Mack and King
(23) and by Nelson and Moltern (24). Freezing
brings about a certain amount of cellular disorgani-
zation with the liberation of enzymes that may oxidize
ascorbic acid. Considerable losses may occur during
storage and thawing because of the action of these
enzymes. The slower the thawing process the greater
the loss in Vitamin C potency. Losses as high as 80
to 90 per cent may thus take place within a few hours
in beans, in peas, or in spinach.
The present-day Alaskan Eskimo keeps his meat
supply in an ice dug-out, in the cache, or on the roof
of the igloo or in the igloo itself. The small-sized
igloo has two compartments, an outer compartment or
vestibule, usually long, unheated, and which serves as
a storeroom for all sorts of odds and ends, such as
furs, pups, reins for the dog team, pokes of blubber,
and meat. The outer compartment opens into the inner
room which is the kitchen, living room and sleeping
room combined. Reindeer, seal, walrus, birds and fish
freeze as hard as rock. The animal food may be
brought into the living compartment to thaw out.
Many days and even weeks may pass before the meat
is consumed. In the defrosting process, loss of Vita-
min C may result from the action of released cellular
enzymes, from the action of bacterial enzymes, or by
the oxidation induced by hemoglobin set free from
hemolyzed red cells. Such losses may be avoided by
eating the meat raw in the frozen state or by cooking
without preliminary defrosting. Heat destroys the
enzymes capable of inducing oxidation.
BLOOD AS AN A N T I S C O R B U T I C
Stefansson (25) emphasizes the fact that the flesh
food of carnivorous people, such as that of Eskimos
remote from the influence of white people, are rich in
blood, since the natives do not kill their food animals
through a process of stunning followed by exsangui-
nation accomplished by cutting the throat. In the past
Eskimos harpooned their food animals, while at
OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES VOL~M~ S
~ U bl BER 12
present they shoot them. In either case the blood re-
mains with the tissues at least so far as birds, seals,
reindeer and caribou are concerned. The walrus, how-
ever, is too heavy and too bulky to be conveniently
brought back to the village. It is as a rule cut up on
the ice shortly after it is killed so that the chunks of
blubber and meat can be easily loaded into the umiak.*
The abdomen and thorax are opened, and the large
blood vessels accidently cut, thus affording escape of
blood from the thoracic and abdominal organs. Whales
are similarly treated.
Stefansson lays claim to the fact that blood may
serve as a good source of the antiscorbutic factor.
There are a few estimations of the Vitamin C content
of the blood of animals used for food. Fujita and
Ebihara (26, 27) found the reduced ascorbic acid
content of the blood of the rabbit to be 0.3 milligrams
per 100 grams, and the reduced plus the unreduced
ascorbic acid 2.30 milligrams per 100 grams. Hoygaard
and Rasmussen (22) reported 3 milligrams of Vita-
rain C in 100 grams of the blood of the Greenland
fiord seal. Stefansson is correct in his views on the
antiscorbutic value of blood if it is consumed by itself.
Since the Vitamin C content of blood is practically of
the same low order as muscle meat, it would be neces-
sary to ingest daily a considerable quantity, about one
and a half liters of blood to secure about 50 milli-
grams. This blood, however, has to be fresh, since the
Vitamin C content may rapidly diminish on standing.
A number of investigators - - Fujita, Ebihara and
Numata (28), Gabbe (29), Kellie and Zilva (30),
van Eekelen (31), Emmerie and van Eekelen (32),
Berend and Fisher (33), Klodt (34), and Greenberg
and Rinehart ( 3 5 ) - - h a v e reported the destruction of
ascorbic acid by hemoglobin released from the red
cells as a result of hemolysis. Frozen meat may begin
to lose its Vitamin C when in the process of thawing,
hemolysis sets in. The low content of Vitamin C in
the blood does not materially help the Eskimo in in-
creasing his daily Vitamin C intake.
Concerning the third suggestion relative to the
daily human requirement for Vitamin C and the rela-
tive efficiency of the guinea pig and the human being
for extracting and utilizing Vitamin C, Stefansson
states that those who measure the Vitamin C content
of animal tissues by the current methods have proba-
bly overestimated from two to ten times the amount
needed to prevent symptoms of scurvy in man, or
perhaps have underestimated the superiority of the
human over the guinea pig mechanism for extracting
and utilizing Vitamin C.
There is no evidence that there exists a biologic
superiority of the human being over the guinea pig
with relation to the utilization of Vitamin C. It is
more likely that the healthy guinea pig used in the
biologic assay is far better qualified to absorb and
assimilate this vitamin than the average human being
of today. The Vitamin C requirements of the human
being are influenced by his age, by his state of health,
by the presence of major and minor infections, by the
adequacy of his diet with respect to factors other than
Vitamin C, and by the energy expenditures of the
body. Hamel (36) demonstrated increased utilization
or increased disappearance of ascorbic acid as a result
* A n u m i a k is an open boat used by the E s k i m o . I t consists of a
f r [ m e w o r k of wood covered over the w a l r u s skin.
JouB. n.D.
DECEMBER, 1941
LEVINE--THE VALUE OF MEAT AS AN ANTISCORBUTIC
of manual labor or violent exercise. Concerning the
fact that men engaged in hard manual labor develop
scurvy more easily than men on the same diet but
less actively engaged, the British Medical Research
Council (37) states as follows: "In the expedition of
the A L E R T and the DISCOVERY to seek the North
Pole in 1875, the men wintered on the ships within the
Arctic Circle. There was no definite scurvy diagnosed
during this period although the diet was defective
from the point of view of antiseorbutie substances,
notably by the substitution of lime juice for lemon
juice. In the spring of 1876 the sledging parties set
out, and with the performance of hard manual labor
scurvy at once made its appearance, the first ease oc-
curring within ten days of departure. At first the
officers escaped, but as the men fell sick and the labor
of dragging the sledges devolved more and more upon
the officers, they also fell victims to the disease. In
due course scurvy also broke out among the crews left
behind upon the ships during the spring and summer
of 1876, but its onset was distinctly later."
The old sailing captains recognized the fact that the
loafing sailors suffered the least from scurvy, while
the most energetic and industrious seamen were the
first to become incapacitated. The rigors of the Arctic
winters and the strenuous exercise of travelling for
many hours at a stretch with dogs and sledge over
frozen tundra or ice-covered ocean no doubt call for
a greater Vitamin C i n t a k e . Despite this fact,
Heygaard (38) maintains that 15 milligrams of Vita-
min C per day sufficed to protect him from scurvy
in the Arctic while on sledging journeys of long
duration.
THE G U I N E A PIG AS A TEST A N I M A L FOR
VITAMIN C POTENCY
The fourth suggestion conveys the idea that the ex-
perimenters in nutrition reach unsound conclusions
with regard to human needs when they analogize for
Vitamin C from guinea pigs to human beings. With
reference to the guinea pig, all present knowledge
leads unequivocably to the inference that conclusions
relative to antiscorbutic potency of foods secure'd by
experimentation with this species apply to the human
being with, however, one very conspicuous exception.
The guinea pig is ideal for assaying foods with high
concentrations of Vitamin C. but is a total failure for
testing foods with very low concentrations of this
dietary factor.
For foods with a high vitamin content, such as
citrous fruits or red peppers, one to two cubic centi-
meters or one gram or even less per day may suffice
to cure or prevent the classical symptoms of scurvy.
For foods with low vitamin content, such as milk or
meat, quantities to be fed daily in order to prevent or
cure scurvy may be so large as to overreach the ana-
tomical and the physiological capacity of the small
test animal, the weight of which at the beginning of
the bio-assay may range from 250 to 300 grams.
To impress one with the difficulties involved in the
use of the guinea pig in the assay of foods with low
concentrations of V i t a m i n C, we shall cite Barnes
and Hume (39) :
"Guinea pigs are however not well suited for
work upon the antiscorbutie value of milk. In
order to maintain health and to prevent scurvy,
these animals need a comparatively large amount
of antiseorbutic material in their diet. In case,
457
therefore, of foodstuffs like milk with a low con-
tent of anti-scurvy vitamin, it is necessary for
large quantities to be consumed. It is against the
habit and nature of these animals to take much
liquid and we have never come across an animal
which would take voluntarily the large daily
ration (100 cc. and upward) of raw milk neces-
sary to afford protection from scurvy. Hand feed-
ing of these large quantities is indescribably
tedious and in many cases they cannot be toler-
ated without digestive disturbances."
In order to determine the amount of milk required
to prevent er cure scurvy, the guinea pig must be
forced to ingest daily a quantity of milk equal to at
least one-third or one-fourth to more than one-half of
its body weight. Chick, Hume and Skelton (40) used
young guinea pigs who could be more readily induced
to take large quantities of milk. They found that a
daily consumption of less than 50 cc. of fresh milk
brought about scurvy, and that a daily ration of 50
to 100 cc. offered lesser or greater protection from
scurvy, depending upon the amount consumed. A daily
consumption of 100 to 150 ec. produced freedom from
scurvy and satisfactory growth. This amount is
practically the equivalent of a complete milk diet.
Dutcher, Pierson and Biester (41) in their studies
of the antiscorbutic properties of raw beef fed one
group of guinea pigs a diet of oats, water, and an
amount of milk sufficient to improve the diet but
insufficient to prevent scurvy. These animals developed
the disease and died. When 5 grams of raw lean beef
were fed daily or water extracts of raw beef repre-
senting 5, 10, 15, or 20 grams of raw beef, no differ-
ence could be noted in the time of the onset of scurvy
or in the length of life of the experimental animals.
The initial weight of the experimental animals fed
the scorbutic diet together with the beef or water ex-
tracts therefrom ranged from 153 to 365 grams.
Dutcher, Pierson and Biester do not mention the
difficulties encountered in feeding guinea pigs an
unaccustomed food. Grace Medes (42) realizing these
difficulties investigated the antiscorbutic properties of
beef by employing younger animals with correspond-
ingly lower weights so that they could be trained more
successfully to eat beef. She secured fresh beef daily
from the market and kept it on ice until feeding time.
She succeeded in feeding the young guinea pigs daily
amounts of 20 to 30 grams of beef. The inclusion of
the beef in the scurvy-producing diet served to delay
the onset of scurvy for seven days only.
Neither Dutcher and his associates nor Grace Medes
furnish us with decisive evidence on the efficiency of
Vitamin C as an antiscorbutie for human beings. They
were limited by the shortcomings of the biologic
method and consequently could not feed sufficient beef
to solve the problem satisfactorily. Moreover, Dutcher
and his associates rendered some of their findings all
the more questionable by the use of water extracts
without determining the completeness or incomplete-
ness of the extraction of the vitamin from fresh raw
beef. Furthermore, it must be remembered that
Modes and Dutcher and his associates used beef se-
cured in the open market. Such meat may not be
freshly killed beef.
The experiments of Gatti, Menendez and Knallinsky
(43, 44) indicate that such beef is sufficiently rich in
458 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES
Vitamin C to protect guinea pigs from scurvy. They
have successfully used the guinea pig as a test animal
to demonstrate the efficiency of freshly killed meat as
an antiscorbutic and the inability of old meat or dried
meat to protect from this disease. During the War
of the Chaco during 1932-35, the P a r a g u a y a n soldiers
developed scurvy. The scurvy-producing ration con-
tained dried and preserved meat (corned beef). When
this meat was fed to guinea pigs, they developed the
typical symptoms of active scurvy. When, however,
fresh meat secured within half an hour of slaughter-
ing was substituted for the dried and preserved meat,
the guinea pigs did not develop scurvy.
Fresh meat may contain a sufficient concentration
of Vitamin C so that it may be fed in quantities
within the physical capacity of the gastro-intestinal
tract of the guinea pig. The Vitamin C content of
meat is generally given to be about 2 milligrams per
100 grams. It is quite likely fresh meat may contain
two or three times as much. The least daily intake
of Vitamin C which begins to show curative properties
is one-half milligram. On the basis of 2 milligrams
per 100 grams, 25 grams of meat in the diet would
prevent scurvy and on the basis of 4 milligrams per
100 grams of fresh meat that is recently killed meat,
12.5 milligrams. That amount of meat can be easily
tolerated by a guinea pig. The less Vitamin C the
meat contains, the greater the quantity of this meat
that must be fed in order to reach a level of Vitamin
C intake sufficient to prevent or remove the symptoms
of scurvy.
THE D E S I R A B I L I T Y OF USING A LARGER
A N I M A L T H A N THE G U I N E A PIG IN THE
BIOLOGICAL ASSAY OF V I T A M I N C
To estimate biologically the antiscorbutic value of
meat in relation to the human being, it would be de-
sirable to employ a larger experimental animal, like
the monkey or the human being. Barnes and Hume
finally employed monkeys to determine more definitely
the antiscorbutic value of fresh milk. Lind (45) was
the first investigator to ascribe antiscorbutie proper-
ties to meat. In 1771 he made the interesting obser-
vation that a soup prepared from the flesh of the
green turtle was curative of scurvy in the human
being. William Stark (46) who was born in 1741 and
died in 1770 was a medical student in Glasgow, Edin-
burgh. At about the time Cook was sailing around
the earth, Stark was engaged in performing dietary
experiments upon himself. He gave himself scurvy
upon a diet of honey and flour, but not upon one rich
in meat. Curran (47) in 1847 described an epidemic
of scurvy in Dublin and cited more than 80 individuals
who suffered from the disease all of whom had re-
ceived one pint of milk daily at least six months prior
to the development of symptoms of scurvy. Their diet
however, was deficient in fresh meat and in vege-
tables. Potatoes were scarce because of an existing
potato famine. Barlow (48) in 1894 advocated the
use of meat juice and meat gravy as an antiscorbutic
food for infants emphasizing the superiority of un-
cooked meat over cooked meat.
THE R E L A T I V E I M P O R T A N C E OF MEAT AS
AN ANTISCORBUTIC IN T H E D I E T
OF THE PAST
Stiebling (49) in 1936 reported her studies of
typical American dietaries of today. She found that
VOL~'~E S
NUMBEn 12
the citrus fruits and tomatoes, representing less than
five per cent of the expenditure for food, furnished
over 37 per cent of the total Vitamin C intake, green
and yellow vegetables nearly 13 per cent, all other
fruits and vegetables about 20 per cent, potatoes and
sweet potatoes about 23 per cent, milk and its pro-
ducts 5 to 6 per cent, meat and fish, fats and eggs only
a negligible amount, if any. According to Stiebling's
estimate 90 per cent of our Vitamin C intake is de-
rived from fruits and vegetables, and about 5 to 6 per
cent of the remainder from milk and milk products,
while the flesh foods constitute but a very inconse-
quential and negligible percentage of the total. The
flesh foods without doubt could be made to furnish a
larger proportion of Vitamin C in the diet if we ate
them, as some Eskimos still do, in greater quantities,
with a lesser period of storage, with less cooking, and
with greater utilization of the visceral organs.
The flesh foods at one time did supply a much
greater part of the Vitamin C intake of the population
in both England and in America. At the time of
Henry VIII, Craik and Macfarlane (50) described the
diet of the English people in the following words:
"The delicate ladies of the court as well as the hungry
citizens and robust squires commenced and concluded
the day with boiled steaks or mighty sirloins and
flagons of brown ale." Hardly any fruits and vege-
tables were eaten at that time. Fruits were very ex-
pensive and were consumed with great rarity even
by the wealthy. When Catherine of Aragon came to
England it was necessary for the household of Henry
V I I I to send abroad to get the vegetables for a salad.
Market gardening came into England from Flanders
only about the beginning of the seventeenth century.
Towards the end of that century vegetables like peas,
beans, cabbages, and a few others were grown only
for animal food in order to increase the supply of
meat. Only potatoes were cultivated for human con-
sumption. When vegetables began to be used as human
food they were cooked for a very long time. Radishes
and occasionally "sailer" were eaten raw. Milk was
used but sparingly and then only by those who
possessed cows. Cheese and butter were made from
the milk and the unused whole milk, buttermilk and
whey were thrown to the pigs. The diet in the thirteen
colonies and in the United States in the earlier days
was not much different (51).
Our English and colonial forefathers obtained their
Vitamin C from meat, which was consumed shortly
after slaughtering, from potatoes, and from the beer
and ale, which in their time was made with sprouting
barley, a rich source of Vitamin C. Beers of today
are also made with the aid of germinating grain, but
the applications of heat in the manufacturing process
removes practically all of the antiscorbutic substance.
OTHER E X A M P L E S OF MEAT AS AN
ANTISCORBUTIC
Scurvy has played a very significant part in Arctic
and Antarctic explorations. It was scurvy that proved
to be the cause of the failure of many of these expe-
ditions. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane in his book, "Arctic
Explorations," made the following entry in his diary
on Tuesday, May 30, 1853: " F o r the past three weeks
we have been living on ptarmigan rabbits, two rein-
deer and seals. They are fast curing our scurvy." An
Joum D. D. LEVINE--THE VALUE OF MEA T AS AN ANTISCORBUTIC
DECEMBER, 1941
outbreak of scurvy occurred in the British polar expe-
dition of 1875-76. The British Arctic Survey Com-
mittee appointed to investigate the cause reported in
1877 that scurvy was due to the absence of lime juice
from the sledge dietaries and that meat in large
quantities was capable of preventing this disease.
Nansen and Johansen wintered safely in Franz-Josefs-
land on a diet of meat. Vilhjalmur Stefansson was
able to live in the Arctic for many years without de-
veloping the classical signs and symptoms of scurvy,
and he was able to cure scurvy in his companions in
Arctic exploration solely by the use of meat. To quote
from Stefansson :
"The sick men were now put up on the follow-
ing diet. In the morning meat enough for a small
meal was boiled and eaten slightly underdone.
There was enough broth left over to furnish
something to drink for the rest of the day, and
any food eaten beyond the breakfast had to be
eaten raw . . . . . The raw meat was eaten by
preference slightly frozen at a hardness analogous
to that of ice cream."
It is evident from Stefansson's dietary prescription
that his men sick with scurvy received ample quanti-
tie~ of Vitamin C to insure complete recovery. The
broth, containing some unoxidized Vitamin C dis-
solved out from the meat, added to the daily intake of
the antiscorbutic factor. In contrast to the curative
diet of Stefansson with the rations received by Indian
troops in the World War of 1914-18, Colonel Hehir
(52) in his official report of scurvy among the Indian
troops wrote as follows:
"The only vegetable now allowed was two
ounces of potatoes (per day) and the only fresh
meat 28 ounces a week (four ounces a day). It is
very doubtful whetl~er this authorized ration, if
not supplemented by other vegetables and more
meat, is sufficient to prevent scurvy."
Stefansson and Andersen, who at one time together
spent three years in the Arctic, undertook in 1928 to
live exclusively on animal food which consisted largely
of muscle meat and which included liver, sweetbreads
and fat. This diet they followed for twelve months
not in the Arctic, but under the climatic conditions
existing in New York City. Lieb (53) who followed
the condition of these two men reported in 1929 at the
end of the experimental period that they were in good
health. On this exclusive meat diet they did not de-
velop scurvy.
The whalers wintering in Hudson Bay frequently
suffered from scurvy. It was common knowledge among
the captains of the whaling vessels that fresh meat
could prevent and cure scurvy. It was indeed their
practice to secure meat from the Eskimos whenever
possible. When the season is poor in game, Eskimos
themselves may develop scurvy. The disease may be
especially prevalent along the Danish coast of Green-
land, among the Eskimos who subsist largely on
breadstuffs. Jackson, who lived for some time among
the Samoyeds, who inhabit the Arctic coast of Siberia
between the Ob and Yenisei rivers, found no scurvy
among them. These people consume reindeer meat
even though they eat no vegetables or fresh fruit
during the winter (54).
The incidents of Amundsen's, Scott's and Shakle-
ton's adventures in the Antarctic demonstrate beyond
doubt the value of fresh meat as an antiscorbutic
459
(55, 56). It was only when the food supply of these
explorers was supplemented with the fresh food avail-
able in the region traversed that scurvy was pre-
vented. Fresh food in the Antarctic means seal meat,
dog meat and penguin. In the autumn of 1911 the
Norwegian expedition, led by Amundsen and the
English expedition under Scott started for the South
Pole. Amundsen and his companions started October
20 from the edge of the Rose Ice Barrier and arrived
at the Pole December 14. The five men and the dogs
they did not kill for food arrived at their starting
point in excellent health. Their rations on the march
to and from the South Pole was composed of pemican
made with vegetables and oatmeal, chocolate, and oat-
meal biscuits. But they also used as food frozen seal
meat and fresh dog meat. None of Amundsen's party
suffered from scurvy.
With reference to Scott and to Shackleton, we shall
quote from Stefansson:
"Scott in 1900 sought the most orthodox scien-
tific counsel when outfitting his first expedition.
He followed advice by carrying lime juice and by
picking up quantities of fruits and other vege-
tables as he passed New Zealand on his way to the
Antarctic. He saw to it that the diet was "whole-
some," that the men took exercise, that they
bathed and had plenty of fresh air. Yet scurvy
broke out and the subsequently famous Shackle-
ton was crippled by it on a journey. They were
pulling their own sleds at the time, so they must
have had enough exercise. There was plenty of
light with the sun beating on them, and there was
plenty of fresh air. To believers in catchwords
and slogans of their day, to believers in the
virtues of lime juice, the onset of scurvy was
battling."
Shackleton, himself, developed scurvy. His illness
interfered with the success of the first Scott expe-
dition. Shackleton may have smarted under the charge
that his weakness had been Scott's main handicap.
The passion to clear his name drove Shackleton to the
organization of an expedition.
To quote again from Stefansson:
"The organization and the first Shackleton
expedition went with a hurrah. They were as
careless as Scott had been careful, they did not
have Scott's type of backing, scientific or finan-
cial. They arrived helter-skelter on the shores of
the Antarctic continent, pitched camp, and dis-
covered that they did not have nearly enough food
for the winter, nor had they used such pains-
taking care as Scott to provide themselves with
fruit and other antiscorbutics in New Zealand.
Compared with Scott's their routine was slipshod
as to cleanliness, exercise, and several of the ordi-
nary hygienic prescriptions.
"What signifies is that Scott's men with un-
limited quantities of jams and marmalades, vege-
tables and fruits, grains, curries and potted
meats, had been little inclined to add seals and
penguins to their dietary. With Shackleton it was
neither wisdom nor the acceptance of good ad-
vice but dire necessity which drove to such use of
penguins and seal that Dr. Alister Forbes Mac-
kay, physician from Edinburgh, who was a
member of that Shackleton expedition and later
physician of my ship, the Karluk, told me he esti-
460 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES
mated half the food d u r i n g their stay in the Ant-
arctic was fresh meat.
"In spite of the lack of care (indeed, as we now
see it, because of that lack), Shackleton has b e t t e r
average health than Scott. There was never a
sign of scurvy; every man retained his full
strength, and they accomplished that spring what
most authorities still consider the g r e a t e s t phys-
ical achievement ever made in the southern polar
regions. With men d r a g g i n g the sledges a con-
siderable p a r t of the way, they got to latitude 88 ~
23' 5", practically within sight of the Pole.
"Scott began his second venture as he had
begun the first, by asking the medical profession
of B r i t a i n for protection from scurvy and by re-
ceiving from them once more the good old advice
about lime juice, f r u i t s and the rest. In w i n t e r
quarters he again placed reliance on t h a t advice
and in constant medical supervision, on a planned
and carefully varied diet, on numerous scientific
tests to determine the condition of the men on
exercise, fresh air, sanitation in all its s t a n d a r d
forms. The men lived on the foods of the United
kingdom, supplemented by the f r u i t and garden
produce of New Zealand. Because they had so
much which they were used to, they ate little of
what they had never learned to like, the penguins
and seals.
"Once more they s t a r t e d their sledge travels
a f t e r a w i n t e r of sanitation. The results had
previously been disappointing, now they were
tragic. While scurvy did not prevent them from
reaching the South Pole, it began to sap their
strength on the r e t u r n and progressed so rapidly
that the growing weakness prevented them if only
by ten miles, from being able to get back to the
final provision depot.
"Those who have ignored the scurvy have some-
times claimed t h a t if Scott had reached the depot
he would have been able to reach eventually the
base camp 150 miles away. This becomes more
than doubtful when you realize that the progres-
sive decrease of vigor, both mental and bodily,
was not going to be helped by even the l a r g e s t
meals, if those meals were food lacking in anti-
scorbutic values."
Scott and his companions lost their lives on their
r e t u r n j o u r n e y from the South Pole only eleven miles
from food and fuel. They slowed t h e i r pace, for two
of their five men were seriously indisposed from
scurvy. One of these two men died from it. The other
voluntarily walked away from the tent to die in the
blizzard to save the other three who were delayed by
his condition. Scott and his two companions died in
t h e i r tent while a blizzard raged outside, a f t e r one of
the g r e a t e s t marches in history, 1600 miles on foot
over a desert of ice and snow. The story of the last
few weeks of their lives is indeed one of the noblest
stories of mankind and the most tragic, a g r i m story
of scurvy t h a t could have been prevented had Scott
and his men supplemented t h e i r own diet with the
abundant antiscorbutic foods of the Antarctic.
THE P R A C T I C A L I M P O R T A N C E OF M E A T AS
AN A N T I S C O R B U T I C IN T I M E S OF W A R
D u r i n g the siege of K u t - e l - A m a r a in 1916 Hehir
(57, 58) reported 1050 cases of scurvy. All but one
VOLUM~8
NUMBER 12
of these cases appeared in the Hindu troops. The
almost complete absence of this disease among the
B r i t i s h troops was occasioned by t h e i r use of fresh
meat toward the end of the siege. It was about t h a t
time t h a t the bullocks, horses and mules were killed
because of diminishing food supplies. The British,
however, with their ration of white flour, biscuits and
fresh meat did develop beriberi. The Hindu soldiers,
whose rations consisted of barley and p r e p a r a t i o n s of
whole wheat grain remained free from beriberi, but
developed scurvy instead. Religious scruples kept the
Hindus from eating the fresh meat, which contained
the antiscorbutic factor.
In the war of the Chaco fought between Bolivia and
P a r a g u a y d u r i n g the years 1932-35 extensive out-
breaks of scurvy occurred in the Bolivian a r m y as
well as in the P a r a g u a y a n a r m y (45, 46). The war
r e s u l t i n g from disputes over boundaries was at times
fought in a tropical region of extensive jungle lacking
in the o r d i n a r y edible f r u i t s and vegetables. In these
periods the ration of the soldier was deficient in anti-
scorbutic foods, the zone of conflict being of such a
n a t u r e that the prescribed ration could not be supple-
mented with foods containing Vitamin C.
At the end of 1933 and at the beginning of 1934 the
P a r a g u a y a n a r m y won victories over the Bolivian
a r m y and penetrated more deeply into the Chaco
region, thus removing itself f a r t h e r from the base of
supplies for fresh food. As a result the f r e s h meat of
the sheep had to be supplemented in the ration by
sun-dried meat, by large cuts of old meat and by c a m e
enlatada (corned beef). The other components of the
ration were unchanged. Several months a f t e r the
forced revision of the diet of the soldier the first case
of scurvy appeared in the P a r a g u a y a n a r m y in spite
of the fact that the quantity of yerba mate in the
ration was doubled. The cases of scurvy t h a t developed
numbered in the thousands. The soldiers suffering
from scurvy were evacuated to the r e a r and a diet of
fruits, vegetables and fresh meat soon brought about
complete recovery.
Towards the end of 1934 the P a r a g u a y a n a r m y
came into possession of new extensive t e r r i t o r y in the
Chaco region. In these Bolivian areas were situated
extensive fields wherein grazed large herds of cattle.
These herds supplied an abundance of fresh meat.
With the introduction of fresh meat to the scorbutic
rations of the soldier, no new cases of scurvy made
t h e i r appearance. The only change in the diet t h a t
was responsible for the prevention of scurvy was the
substitution of the freshly killed meat for the dried
meat, for cuts of old meat, and for the corned beef.
CAPACITY FACTOR VERSUS I N T E N S I T Y
FACTOR
In s a t i s f y i n g the daily Vitamin C requirement, we
must consider two factors, the i n t e n s i t y factor and
the capacity factor.
I N T E N S I T Y F A C T O R }( C A P A C I T Y F A C T O R
DAILY REQUIREMENT
The i n t e n s i t y factor represents the concentration
or m i l l i g r a m s of Vitamin C per unit weight. The
capacity factor represents the weight of the food in-
gested. To fulfill the requirement with a food of a
high i n t e n s i t y factor, the capacity' factor would neces-
s a r i l y be small; with a food of low i n t e n s i t y factor,
J o u m D. D. LEVINE--THE VALUE OF M E A T
DECeMbER, 1941
the capacity factor or the amount consumed, would be
necessarily high.
The biological method indicates that meat with
reference to Vitamin C content has a low intensity
factor. It is a food comparatively poor in Vitamin C.
This information, however, is indefinite and therefore
of little practical value. The chief uncertainty lies in
the unavoidable nature of what we may term the
biologic end point. King (59) points out that complete
protection from scurvy or a definite degree of partial
protection is a problem difficult to judge. Lack of an
exact figure for the Vitamin C concentration of meat
leaves us in almost total darkness as to the capacity
factor with reference to daily needs.
The isolation of Vitamin C as a chemical entity by
Waugh and King (60, 61) and somewhat later by
Svirbely and Szent-GySrgi (62), and its synthesis by
Reichstein, Griissner and Oppenauer (63) and others,
and numerous studies of its properties, have led to
chemical methods for its quantitative estimation.
These chemical methods give us among other ad-
vantages the ability to determine with reasonable
accuracy the Vitamin C content of foods low in this
dietary factor. Bessey and King (64) employing a
chemical procedure found that animal tissues highest
in Vitamin C content are the adrenal glands with
about 140 to 230 mgs. per 100 grams followed by
brain, liver, testes, ovaries and other glandular pro-
ducts with about 10 to 40 milligrams per 100 grams.
Active muscular tissue, such as heart muscle, contains
about 5 to 15 milligrams per 100 grams. Lean muscle
stands at the foot of the list with 4 milligrams per 100
grams. The writer has found the Vitamin C content
of fresh reindeer meat to vary from 3 to 3.5 milli-
grams per 100 grams, and fresh seal meat from 2 to
3 milligrams per 100 grams. Hoygaard and Rasmussen
(22) recently reported the Vitamin C content of seal
meat to be 2 milligrams per 100 grams, and blood of
the fiord seal 3 milligrams per 100 cubic centimeters.
As an illustration of the importance of the capacity
factor in case of foods low in Vitamin C, we shall cite
the findings of Fox and Stone (60), who determined
by biologic assay as well as by a chemical method the
ascorbic acid or Vitamin C content of Kaffir beer, a
drink consumed by South African natives. Experi-
ments with guinea pigs showed that daily adminis-
tration of as high a quantity as 7.5 cc. of filtered beer
gave no protection against scurvy. The autopsy re-
vealed the typical hemorrhages, beading of the ribs at
the costo-chondral junction, fragility of bones and
teeth, and chemical analyses indicated diminished
Vitamin C content of liver and of adrenal glands.
G E R M I N A T I O N AS A MEANS OF P R O V I D I N G
VITAMIN C
The guinea pig bio-assay demonstrated the fact that
Kaffir beer had very little Vitamin C, but yielded no
information as to its practical value as an antiscor-
butic for human beings. Nevertheless Kaffir beer is
as valuable an antiscorbutic to the natives of South
Africa as the potato is to people of Europe and
America. During the World War of 1914-18 the
Kaffirs constituted the South African native labor
corps working in France. While in that country they
developed scurvy because the French supplied these
natives with a beverage similar to the one to which
AS A N A N T I S C O R B U T I C 461
they were accustomed with the notable exception that
the process of germination had been omitted in its
preparation (61). It is a well accepted fact that grains
and other seeds, such as beans and peas, are devoid of
Vitamin C. When allowed to germinate, however, they
develop great antiscorbutic potency (62-65).
The older literature often mentions beer and ale as
beverages of great antiscorbutic value. James Lind
stated that beer and fermented liquors of any sort
constituted the best remedy for scurvy. Captain Cook
in his famous voyage around the world, accomplished
without the loss of a single sailor from scurvy, sup-
plied his men with an infusion of barley called sweet-
wort, prepared fresh and served liberally. The anti-
scorbutic value of the beers and ales used in the days
of Lind and Cook may be attributed to their prepa-
ration from freshly germinated grain as well as to its
consumption only a short period after brewing. Beer
produced in the modern way contains only minute
quantities of Vitamin C, about 0.06 milligrams to
0.15 milligrams to the ounce.
Fox and Stone also analyzed Kaffir beer chemically
for its Vitamin C content. Using the method involving
the reduction of the dye, 1,6 dichlorophenolindophenol,
they estimated the Vitamin C content of the beer to
be 0.8 milligram per 100 cubic centimeters. Kaffir beer
is evidently not rich in Vitamin C. If it is to be a suc-
cessful and practical antiscorbutic it must be con-
sumed in very large quantities. A gallon a day is well
within the capacity of a native living in the kraal and
even larger quantities are consumed. Through custom
or poverty or both, the diet of the South African
native is largely mealie or Kaffir corn porridge. This
is washed down with copious draughts of native beer.
The practical value of this beer as an antiscorbutic
depends solely on the large amounts usually consumed
and not on the actual concentration of this vitamin,
which is of a very low order. The intensity factor
being small, the capacity factor must therefore be
large. Two liters of beer, a little less than two quarts,
furnish about 15 milligrams of Vitamin C, four liters
of beer, a little less than a gallon, about 30 milligrams
of Vitamin C, and six liters about 45 milligrams.
THE V I T A M I N C CONTENT OF ARCTIC FOODS
The data on the Vitamin C content of Arctic foods
is as yet very meager. Hoygaard and Rasmussen (22)
have published analytical data for the Vitamin C con-
tent of the muscle meat and of several internal organs
of the seal. According to their findings, the muscle
meat of the fiord seal off the coast of Greenland con-
rains 2 milligrams of Vitamin C per 100 grams, al-
though Levine (67) has found the muscle meat of the
seal caught" along the Barrow Coast to vary in Vita-
rain C content from 2.5 to 3 milligrams per 100 grams,
and 3 milligrams for the muscle meat of the reindeer.
We have no analytical figures on the Vitamin C con-
tent of the various organs of the reindeer and of the
muscle and visceral organs of the caribou, the polar
bear, the walrus, t h e large Arctic whale, the small
white whale or beluga, the narwhal, the oogrook,* the
salmon, the trout, the sculpin and the tom cod. The
data available, however, confirms Stefansson's con-
tention that meat alone can well serve as an anti-
scorbutic with these two provisos: that the meat be
~The oogrook is a bearded seal, larger in size than the ordinary seal.
462 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF DIGESTIVE DISEASES
fresh and t h a t at least a sufficient quantity be con-
sumed to s a t i s f y the biologic demands for the pre-
vention of the onset of the classical symptoms or for
t h e i r removal.
What the minimum requirement in the human being
for the prevention or removal of the classical signs
and symptoms of scurvy is we do not know. It is, no
doubt, much less than the requirements for the main-
tainence of a f a i r state of health and very much less
than the demands for optimal health. On the basis of
2 to 3 milligrams of Vitamin C per 100 grams of lean
seal meat, about 500 to 750 grams or about one and a
half to two and a half pounds of raw meat or twice
the amount of boiled meat would have to be eaten
d u r i n g the day to supply 15 milligrams of Vitamin C,
the lowest daily requirement yet promulgated by any
nutritionist. On the basis of 50 milligrams as the
daily need, about 1667 to 2500 grams, t h a t is about
three and t h r e e - f o u r t h s to five pounds of raw lean seal
meat would have to be ingested. That amount would
by no means t a x the daily capacity of an Eskimo or
a meat-eating northern Indian.
I t is r e m a r k a b l e indeed t h a t as early as 1918 when
scientific knowledge c o n c e r n i n g the antiscorbutic
factor was yet very meager, Stefansson's published
ideas concerning the proper.ties of this vitamin with
reference to its s t a b i l i t y and his published ideas con-
cerning prevention and cure of the disease induced by
its absence in the diet still conform today with the
accumulated laboratory-tested facts r e g a r d i n g scurvy
and Vitamin C. Stefansson's promulgation of the
doctrine of living off the land begins a new epoch of
successful Arctic exploration. It also emphasizes the
i m p o r t a n t yet oft forgotten or neglected lesson in the
field of dietetics and n u t r i t i o n that the field observer
can make contributions of equal importance with those
of the l a b o r a t o r y investigator.
SUMMARY
M e a t exclusive of such visceral organ as the liver
has been r e g a r d e d as a food playing no role or at least
a very insignificant role as an antiscorbutic. The inn-
bility of muscle meat to prevent and to cure scurvy is
an idea which has taken root because of the experi-
ments of the earlier investigators. These workers did
not appreciate the importance of freshly killed meat
in contradistinction to fresh m a r k e t meat. F u r t h e r -
more, they used the guinea pig as a test animal. This
animal has a limited gastro-intestinal capacity. It can,
therefore, be fed only a small q u a n t i t y of a food
biologically assayed for Vitamin C content. If this
small quantity possessed sufficient Vitamin C to cure
or prevent scurvy, the food was said to possess anti-
scorbutic potency. If, however, this small quantity
did not contain sufficient Vitamin C to cure or prevent
scurvy, the food was regarded as one devoid of anti-
scorbutic p o t e n c y . More recent experiments with
freshly killed meat indicate ~hat quantities fed within
the physical capacity of the guinea pig possessed de-
cided antiscorbutic value.
The chemical method for Vitamin C does not have
the disadvantages of the guinea pig bio-assay method.
Chemical analysis of fresh meat proves that it does
contain Vitamin C. Due to the low concentration of
Vitamin C in meat, a liberal quantity must be ingested
VO~.U,~E S
N U M B E R 12
to make up the daily requirement. Cooking will de-
stroy a portion of the Vitamin C and cause another
portion to dissolve out in the cooking water. The
cooked meat, together with the cooking water, may
contain a p p r o x i m a t e l y 50 per cent of the original Vita-
min C. The s h o r t e r the period of heating, the less the
destruction of the vitamin.
Under present-day conditions meat cannot be con-
sidered a source of antiscorbutic vitamin. Too much
time elapses between consumption on the one hand
and slaughtering, r e f r i g e r a t i n g and m a r k e t i n g on the
other. Time is an i m p o r t a n t factor in the slow oxi-
dation and consequent destruction of the biologic
potency of Vitamin C. The p r e p a r a t i o n of meat for
the table d u r i n g which process more or less heat is
employed induces a considerable l o s s o f potency
through oxidation of some or all of the r e m a i n i n g
vitamin. Even under such unfavorable conditions,
meat as the sole article of diet may yet protect from
scurvy. Stefansson and Andersen lived for a whole
y e a r on meats supplied from the New York City
markets without m a n i f e s t i n g any of the clinical s':gns
of scurvy.
In times of emergency a v a r i e t y of substances have
been pressed into service in the cure and in the pre-
vention of scurvy. During the Alaska gold rush an
American physician, Dr. Sidebotham, found himself
with a number of patients suffering from scurvy and
with none of the standard antiscorbutics available,
such as f r u i t s and vegetables. He decided to t r y pine
needles (51). These he extracted with water. He ad-
ministered the decoction to his patients. They re-
covered. L a t e r studies indicate that a decoction of
pine needles may contain as much Vitamin C as
orange juice. Jacques C a r t i e r years earlier, in 1535,
upon the advice of Indians, used a decoction of the
s a s s a f r a s bark and leaves to cure his men suffering
severely from scurvy. Recent investigations of the
Russian government interested in the settlement of
northern Siberia indicate t h a t the leaves and tvcigs of
both pines and spruces may be utilized as antiscorbu-
tics. As a m a t t e r of fact Lind almost two hundred
years ago gave in his classical t r e a t i s e on scurvy de-
tailed d i r e c t i o n s for p r e p a r i n g antiscorbutic de-
coctions from fir tops, leaves and bark.
Seamen of old prevented scurvy by the use of beers
and ales made with germinated g r a i n s as well as by
the use of germinated seed foods, such as barley, peas,
beans and lentils. Cook, who successfully circum-
navigated the world, as well as other n a v i g a t o r s used
among other things scurvy grass, which they sought
wherever and whenever they set foot on land. Even
the o r d i n a r y lawn v a r i e t y of freshly cut or freshly
gathered grass may be employed to advantage. Weight
for weight grass has more Vitamin C than orange
juice.
In times of emergency meat has been utilized and
can still be utilized as the sole source of antiscorbutic
substance in the diet. Brave and courageous men have
cured and prevented scurvy in the Arctic and in the
A n t a r c t i c by the liberal use of fresh seal meat, walrus
meat and caribou meat. Brave and courageous men in
the polar regions have lost t h e i r lives, victims of
scurvy, by failing to supplement t h e i r own food supply
with the animal antiscorbutics very abundant in these
 J(ul~. D. D. LEVINE--THE VALUE
DECEMBER, 1941
areas. A r m i e s of soldiers have suffered f r o m s c u r v y
and have in several i n s t a n c e s cured or p r e v e n t e d t h i s
n u t r i t i o n a l scourge by t h e use of meat, t h e only a v a i l -
able a n t i s c o r b u t i c u n d e r t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s . I t is im-
p o r t a n t to b e a r in m i n d t h a t when m e a t was effectively
used as t h e sole a n t i s c o r b u t i c , it was f r e s h l y killed
a n d consumed in l i b e r a l q u a n t i t i e s .
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OF M E A T AS A N ANTISCORBUTIC 4(~
We m u s t r e m e m b e r t h e n u t r i t i o n a l Iessons of the
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