Interest in scurvy has been stimulated in the last few years as the result of a new and broader conception of nutrition. It has come to be realized that in addition to the substances heretofore recognized as of essential importance in the dietary – the proteins, fats, carbohydrates and the salts – there is still another group, termed “vitamins”, “accessory food factors” or “food hormones,” which must be included in order to render the diet complete and adequate. It has become increasingly evident that the attention of physiologists and the clinicians has been focused too sharply and too narrowly on the caloric value of foodstuffs. Includes a history and bibliography. By Alfred Fabian Hess (1875 - 1933), an American physician known for his work on the role of nutrition in scurvy and rickets and for describing the Hess test.