858 EXPEBIMENT STATION RECORD. 



these articles are added to what would appear to be an otherwise physiolog- 

 ically proper diet they usually prevent the development of the symptoms of 

 the disease. In some instances, however, even when these substances are con- 

 stituents of the diet, when the diet is without variation and composed of very 

 few articles, and the individual sufifers from loss of appetite and the assimilative 

 functions appear to be poor and he loses markedly in weight, symptoms of beri- 

 beri may develop. However, such symptoms may be dispersed by causing a 

 variation in the diet by the addition of other nutritious substances." 



" None of the individuals in our experiments developed symptoms suggesting 

 scurvy. . . . 



" From our experiments there is no evidence of any nature which suggests 

 that beri-beri is an infectious disease, and on the contrary the evidence is 

 definite that beri-beri [in the Philippine Islands] is due to the prolonged con- 

 sumption of a diet which lacks certain substances necessary for the normal 

 physiological needs of the human body." 



The authors also discuss the possible relation of the phosphoric acid content 

 of rice to the incidence of beri-beri. 



The prevention of beri-beri, E. B. Veddee (Trans. 15. Inteniat. Cong. Uyg. 

 and-Demogr. Washington, 5 (1912), Sect. 2, pp. 671-678). — The author discusses 

 the relation of beri-beri to poUshed rice, and gives his reasons for believing 

 that the solution of the difficulty does not lie in placing a tax on highly milled 

 rice. 



The protective power of normal human milk against polyneuritis galli- 

 narum (beri-beri), R. B. Gibson (Philippine Jour. Sci., Sect. B, 8 (1913), No. 6, 

 pp. 469-471). — In view of the fact that infantile beri-beri has been attributed to 

 a deficiency of " vitamins " in the milk of the mother resulting from the too 

 exclusive consumption of milled rice, the author carried out a series of experi- 

 ments to study the protective power of normal human milk against beri-beri. 

 Four groups of fowls were fed 50 gm. of polished rice per day, in addition to 

 which some of the fowls received human milk in quantities varying from 5 to 

 20 cc. The results of these experiments indicate that the addition of human 

 milk to the polished rice, even in as large amounts as 20 cc. per day, was not 

 sufficient to prevent polyneuritis. 



It would appear from the work of other investigators here reviewed that 

 fresh cow's milk had about four times the protective power of normal human 

 milk. 



A consideration of certain foods and of proximity to a previous case as 

 factors in the etiology of pellagra, J. F. Siler, P. E. Garrison, and W. J. 

 MacNeal (Proc. Soc. Expt. Biol, and Med., 11 (1914), No. 3, p. 94).— A sta- 

 tistical study was made of the foods used and the occurrence of pellagra in mill 

 villages including about 5,000 persons. 



According to the authors, the results obtained " failed to reveal any consistent 

 relationship between the use of any particular food and the occurrence of pella- 

 gra. A somewhat similar statistical study of the location of domicile of old 

 cases of pellagra in relation to domicile of the remaining population in these 

 i^ame mill villages has shown that new cases of pellagra developed almost ex- 

 clusively in persons living in the same house with such antecedent cases or in 

 houses next door to them, ... a phenomenon which can be satisfactorily 

 explained, in our opinion, only by assuming that pellagra is an infectious dis- 

 ease. Apparently it is not readily transmitted to any considerable distance." 



Anaphylactic reaction in pellagra patients, by the inoculation of watery 

 extract of spoiled maize, G. Volpino et al. (Trans. 15. Intertiat. Cong. Hyg. 

 and Demogr. Washington, 2 (1912), Sect. 1, pp. 344-^46) ■ — A brief summary of 

 the results of the authors' observations on inoculating pellagra patients with an 



