VETERINAEY MEDICINE. 475 



feeding and death frequently occurring witli little warning. Among the more 

 pronounced symptoms observed are diarrhea; a harsh, rough, curly coat; 

 paralysis ; and shortness of breath. Emaciation and dropsical conditions 

 are also frequently noted. The disease manifests two forms — acute and 

 chronic, the former being much more serious since the pigs may be dead before 

 any indications of disease are noticed, v\iiereas in the chronic form fatal results 

 may not occur for a considerable time. " On post-mortem examination, pigs 

 which have died from the effects of cotton-seed meal feeding show large quan- 

 tities of fluid in the abdominal and thoracic cavities and in the pericardial sac. 

 The kidneys, liver, spleen, and small intestines are usually congested. In some 

 cases the membrane lining the stomach is eroded. The lungs are vex*y edemat- 

 ous, especially in pigs which have died from sudden acute attacks. The heart 

 is enlarged." 



It is pointed out that these conditions bear a striking resemblance to those 

 seen in the disease known as beri-beri in man, which according to Yedder 

 (E. S. R., 33, p. 365) results from faulty metabolism and is directly caused by 

 the deficiency of certain vitamins in the food. 



Experiments were conducted by the authors with a view to determining (1) 

 whether the " wet " or acute form of beri-beri could be produced in pigs on a 

 diet of polished rice, and (2) whether the disease heretofore called " cotton- 

 seed poisoning " in pigs is not really beri-beri. Commencing on August 31, 1915, 

 four pigs were fed a ration of 9 parts (by weight) of steamed polished rice and 

 1 part of tankage, and four a ration of 2 parts of corn meal and 1 part of 

 cotton-seed meal. On October 24 the ration of the latter pigs was changed to 

 equal parts by weight of corn meal and cotton-seed meal. None of these pigs 

 had received rice or cotton-seed meal before they entered the experiment. 



On September 8. or the eighth day from the beginning of the experiment, 

 one of the pigs on rice began to breathe with difficulty ; on the tenth this con- 

 dition was pronounced and he refused to eat. On September 14 these symp- 

 toms rapidly became more severe, paralysis developed, and the pig died. The 

 ante-mortem symptoms and the post-mortem findings were the same as occur 

 in beri-beri and in acute cotton-seed poisoning. On September 21, four addi- 

 tional pigs were placed on the same steamed rice and tankage ration (9:1). 

 On September 29, or 8 days later, one of these pigs became sick and on Septem- 

 ber 30 refused to eat. This pig recovered and regained his normal appetite, 

 but died on October 29, after having been on the rice diet for 38 days. The 

 ante-mortem symptoms corresponded closely to those of the first pig to die, but 

 the post-mortem examination did not give such clear cut results. The remain- 

 ing 10 pigs are being continued on the rice and cotton-seed meal rations, having 

 been almost 90 days on these feeds at the time this article was prepared. All 

 the pigs were sick at that time and the same symptoms are said to have ap- 

 peared in each lot, the most typical and acute cotton-seed meal symptoms being 

 seen among the pigs receiving rice. 



A mature brood sow, weighing 400 lbs., due to farrow on November 14, was 

 placed September 2 on a cotton-seed meal ration consisting of 4 parts of corn 

 meal and 1 part of cotton-seed meal, the quantity of corn meal being gradually 

 decreased until, on October 1, she was receiving equal parts of corn meal and 

 cotton-seed meal. Up to November 14 she had eaten 134.65 lbs. of cotton-seed 

 meal, but had shown no serious sign of sickness, except nausea on November 4, 

 when she vomited. On the night of November 13 9 pigs were delivered, 4 

 of which were born dead and of those born alive all but one died in a few min- 

 utes, the last pig living less than 8 hours. Post-mortem examinations were 

 made of 7 of these pigs, 4 of which were born alive. Analogy with infantile 



