The first vitamin to be isolated and then synthesised in 1936 was thiamine or B1. Deficiency causes beriberi, a disease that can affect both the cardiovascular and the central nervous systems.

1936 年第一个被分离并合成的维生素是硫胺素或 B1。缺乏会导致脚气病，这种疾病会影响心血管和中枢神经系统。

He had survived pellagra in Persia, scurvy in the Malayan archipelago, leprosy in Alexandria, beriberi in Japan, bubonic plague in Madagascar, an earthquake in Sicily, and a disastrous shipwreck in the Strait of Magellan.

他在波斯患过癞病，在马来亚群岛患过坏血病，在亚历山大患过麻疯病，在日本患过脚气病，在马达加斯加患过淋巴腺鼠疫，在西西里碰到过地震，在麦哲伦海峡遇到过牺牲惨重的轮船失事。