HISTORICAL SURVEY 



29 



He was convinced that it was not a ferment and that its efficacy 

 was not diminished after heating for one hour at 100C. Since the 

 war, great strides have been made in our knowledge of scurvy and 

 rickets, and we shall discuss them in later chapters. 



Beriberi is an avitaminosis about which we are best informed. 

 Although known for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, it is 

 only in the last 25 years that actual progress has been made relative 

 to its occurrence and prevention. This is perhaps due to the increase 

 in the number of cases of beriberi, coincident with the introduction 

 of modern machinery for rice milling. It was quite properly pre- 

 sumed by Wernich (40) and van Leent (41) that there existed a 

 causative relationship between rice consumption and beriberi. In 

 1882, Takaki (42) proposed a change in the rice diet of the Japanese 

 navy, so that meat, bread, fruit and vegetables were added. Since 

 that time beriberi has almost completely disappeared. 



Takaki's tables are exceptionally instructive. It is apparent from 

 Fig. 1, that upon the elimination of the rice diet in 1882, there was 

 an immediate drop in the number of cases of beriberi, which number 

 subsequently remained trifling. In Figs. 2 and 3 it may be seen 

 further, that although the caloric value of the new diet was smaller 

 in comparison to that of the previous one (causing beriberi), there 

 was a definite increase in the average weight of the men. 4 



Even greater strides were made in Java by Dutch investigators. 

 Based upon very rich statistical material collected at Eijkman's 

 suggestion by Vordermann (43) in a large number of Javanese prisons, 

 it was possible to demonstrate that the disease was associated with 

 the ingestion of white (polished) rice. The fluctuation in the number 

 of cases of beriberi due to various kinds of rice is well illustrated in 

 Vordermann's Table: 



The findings of Vordermann were corroborated by Braddon (44) 

 on a large number of cases in the Malay peninsula. He was able to 



4 Figures 1, 2, and 3. 



