Fleming, in this extremely famous article, defines his "penicillin" as consisting of one or more soluble solid active ingredients in a liquid nutritional broth, no more and no less.
He makes it clear that "penicillin" is merely a useful shorthand for that cumbersome longer phrase.
He never once uses the word impurities or impure or crude: to him his active ingredient is perhaps ALL of the soluble solids left behind when the water is evaporated .
Showing posts with label vitamin c. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vitamin c. Show all posts
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Monday, January 21, 2013
Vitamin C pills vs oranges: a metaphor for the dueling penicillin of Aussie docs, Florey and Duhig
A nice big fresh juicy orange and a tiny white pill can both have the exact same amount of vitamin c in them : about 100 mg , just above the recommended daily intake of the vitamin for a adult.
The synthetic vitamin c pill (first invented in the 1930s) is of course supposedly pure, but actually consists mostly of "harmless" filler . It is usually taken with a small glass of water.
The orange was - in the eyes of the Modernist 1930s - an impure source of vitamin c. The orange consisted mostly of harmless filler (pulp fibre and a great taste) and about the same amount of water as needed to fill a small glass.
The synthetic vitamin c pill (first invented in the 1930s) is of course supposedly pure, but actually consists mostly of "harmless" filler . It is usually taken with a small glass of water.
The orange was - in the eyes of the Modernist 1930s - an impure source of vitamin c. The orange consisted mostly of harmless filler (pulp fibre and a great taste) and about the same amount of water as needed to fill a small glass.
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