COPPER AND ANEMIA

Abstract

Steenbock, Hart and their co-workers have made a series of systematic investigations on the catalytic effect of copper on hemoglobin formation. In Europe a great part of any interest in the present article would be due to the fascinating history of this important discovery. In America, no doubt, all pediatricians are familiar with the facts which led to this contribution to science; however, I shall make a brief survey of these investigations, because sometimes discoveries are not as well known in the country in which they are made as abroad. Let me thus begin with the transport of owls to Athena. The subject of these investigations was interesting to pediatricians, as it dealt with the nutritional anemia due to the exclusive feeding of milk. In the first period of the investigations, rabbits from 4 to 5 weeks of age were placed on a milk diet. After five or six weeks