om fine white flour or meal is much more apt to be
deficient in vitamine of the "B" type than that which is made from the
whole grain; the same is true of rice and other cereals. Spinach,
potatoes, carrots and turnips show an appreciable amount of the
vitamine, but beets are known to be extremely poor in it. Nuts too are
considered a valuable source.

~Function of the "B" Vitamine.~--Like the "A" vitamine, water soluble
"B" is believed to be essential to growth. Funk established its value
as a preventive and cure of Beri-beri, the disease common in the
Orient among people living largely upon a diet of polished rice and
fish. Besides being a growth-stimulating substance and an
antineuritic, the "B" vitamine is highly valued for its stimulating
effect upon the appetite. To this property is probably due at least
part of the credit for which certain substances work for the promotion
of growth in animals. This can be utilized to good advantage for
children showing a disposition to refuse food, by supplementing
formulas made from milk,[13] with the expressed juice of vegetables
and fruits known to be rich in the "B" vitamine.

~Effect of Heat on the "B" Vitamine.~--This vitamine also shows a
resistance to heat; that is, as applied in the methods generally used
in cooking, pasteurization temperatures do not materially affect the
vitamine property of the formula as far as the "A" and "B" factors are
concerned.

~The Effect of Alkali (Soda) upon the "B" Vitamine.~--It has been an
ordinary practice to add soda to the water in which certain vegetables
are cooked, for the ostensible purpose of softening the vegetables and
hastening their cooking. The practice has been condemned by many
scientists who are making experiments along these lines, on account of
its destructive power upon the "B" vitamine. Chick and Hume in England
claim that when the amount of food given contains originally just
sufficient vitamines to cover the growth factor the use of soda in the
cooking water does serious harm to these vitamines. This is a point
well worth remembering. It is often difficult to persuade certain
individuals to eat vegetables in appreciable quantities; if the
vitamines were reduced though the method of preparing the food, these
individuals would not obtain a sufficient quantity of the vitamines.

~"Water Soluble C."~--The third member of the vitamine family is
known for its antiscorbutic property; that is, it is the best known
cure