The totalitarian state appeared as a state engaged in war. In the World War, for the first time in the twentieth century, the total reserves of national strength were concentrated in one great effort to destroy the enemy. The war was not the concern of the mobilized armies alone. It engaged the whole nation. “It was no longer possible (in the World War) to determine at what point the strength of the civilian population passed into the strength of the army and navy.” The army and the people constituted a single unit and as such they conducted the war. As a unit they faced their threatening opponent, who presented a similar common front. “The fighting ability of the forces at the front was conditioned by the fighting ability of the people at home.”

The influence of a change of colonic availability of biotin on biotin status was studied. This was done by inhibition of biotin absorption by intracaecal avidin infusion. Five adult minipigs with a permanent caecal ‘T’ cannula were fed on a semi-synthetic, biotin-deficient diet for 4 months. Following an 8-week adaptation period there were nine sequential 1-week infusion periods with or without oral lactulose or antibiotics. Avidin infusion during weeks 2, 5 and 8 amounted to 18 mg/d (13 U/mg). Plasma biotin concentrations were not changed by avidin infusions. There was a significant average 84% rise in faecal biotin excretion during the avidin periods. Urinary biotin output following avidin decreased by 21 %. This is taken as evidence that biotin synthesized by colonic bacteria is available for host metabolism. A rough estimate shows that under basal conditions 1.7–17% of the metabolic allowance may be covered by this metabolic route.