VITAMINES 



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weakness, and, post mortem, the peripheral nerves, the vagus, 

 spinal cord, and cranial nerves all show signs of degeneration, 

 whilst the muscles, including the heart muscle, are also 

 degenerated and atrophied. In birds, the paralysis of wings 

 and legs is most apparent, and the head is usually pressed back 

 in a characteristic manner by contraction of the muscles in the 

 neck. When these characteristic symptoms appear, the birds, 

 if undisturbed, seldom live for more than twenty-four hours. 

 Eykman found that if, when such a condition has become 

 developed, the rice bran, or an extract of it, is given to the bird, 

 it rapidly recovers, and regains its normal condition. 



Eykman's work has been confirmed and extended by 

 subsequent researchers. Sandwith, for instance, has carried 

 out similar experiments on human subjects. Some men were 

 fed exclusively on polished rice ; beri-beri developed in two or 

 three months, and was promptly cured by reverting to an un- 

 polished rice diet. The discovery by Braddon that one class of 

 natives in the Malay Peninsula — the Tamils— who prepare their 

 food from unpolished rice, are free from the disease, also falls 

 into line with the rest of the evidence. 



In the meantime, the knowledge thus acquired has been 

 applied in various fields with interesting results. A Govern- 

 ment Report from Siam, which was recently published, contains 

 the following information bearing on this point. 



Effect of alteration of diet of prisoners from polished to 

 unpolished rice in the year 1909 : 



Similar striking results were obtained in the Culion Leper 

 Colony when the usual diet of polished rice was altered to one 

 of unpolished rice. The deaths from beri-beri among the lepers 

 fell from nearly 100 per month to 1 or 2 per month. To 

 make sure that the change in the diet was responsible for this 

 wonderful improvement, a fresh quantity of polished rice was 

 distributed in November 191 1 amongst the lepers. For the 

 next month or so nothing noticeable occurred. In January 



