ABSTRACT
In the early twentieth century the problem was attacked from two points of view. First of all, a number of workers dealt with the question of what had to be added to an otherwise complete diet in order to prevent a given deficiency disease. This may be called the analytical method. The converse or synthetic method, of which Hopkins was the most successful exponent, asked the more ambitious question, 'Can we make a complete diet out of substances of known chemical composition, and, if not, what must we add to it to make it satisfactory?' It seems that besides proteins, carbohydrates, fats and inorganic substances, at least five rather complex organic bodies are needed. Hopkins called them accessory food factors. Funk, who had obtained a preparation containing a good deal of one of them and believed that he had got it pure, called it vitamine.
