Another great advance was made when 
EIJKMAN verified the fact that excessive heat 
destroys the protective action of the rice-pelli- 
cule as well as that of all other cereals. He fed 
birds on unshelled, rice, heated to 1200 C. 
for two hours, and saw that they died of 
polyneuritis. Oats, barley and millet eaten raw 
prevent polyneuritis. Cooked inthe ordinary 
manner these cereals do not lose their protec- 
tive action, but if they are kept two hours 
in the autoclave at 1200, they lose it and 
provoke polyneuritis EIJKMAN therefore ar- 
rived at the conclusion that cereals contain a 
substance of special nutritive quality with a 
neuro-protective power, which is lost when 
the cereals are submitted to high tempera- 
tures. 
These observations were elaborated some 
years afterwards by SCHAUMANN, who 
proved that long storage in the hold of hot 
and damps ships, or in laboratories in glass 
jars destroyed this protective substance. It was 
proved also that the birds attacked by poly- 
neuritis were cured, if fed on meal of rice- 
husks, or if their insufficient alimentation 
was supplemented by other foods of greater 
protective value such as oats, barley, millet, 
etc. 
No sooner was the existence of a highly 
nutitrive and protective substance in the rice- 
husks known, than scientists in all parts of 
the world began to investigate the nature 
of it. As the rice-husks are rich in phytin, 
EIJKMAN went on to prove that phyin 
does not cure, nor does it prevent the illness, 
but that the substance sought for, is present 
in the watery extract of rice-meal after 
phytin was extracted. 
These observations were confirmed by 
FRAZER and STANTON, also by CHAM- 
BERLAIN and VEDDER and were the basis 
of the method used in extracting the Pro- 
tective substance from the remains left after 
cleaning rice. A substance rich in phosphate 
was also extracted from rice-flour; it did 
not however protect the birds to which it 
was given by EIJKMAN in their polished 
rice food.» 
91 
Carrying his observations still further, 
EIJKMAN came to the following conclu- 
sions. “An apparently physiological diet may 
provoke the disease and even lead to death” 
and “although polynevritis gallinarum is not 
in all points identical with beriberi in men, 
it is nevertheless caused by the same condi- 
tions. Human beriberi can be prevented and 
cured by the same diet as that which protects 
and cures birds. 
In his thesis ARLINDO DE ASSIS, a pupil 
of FRAGA, proposes that the polyneuritis gal- 
linarum be called EIJKMAN’S disease in 
homage to the important services rendered 
to science by the Dutch professor. I do not 
follow his example, but am of opinion that 
the name of beriberi ought to be kept, even 
if it be insufficient to express all that is meant 
by polyneuritis, brought on by insufficient ali- 
mentation. This I think due to SILVA LIMA, 
who chose this one, from amongst all other 
names for the same disease in use at the 
time in which the disease was observed in 
our country, and which has remained in 
scientific terminology. I am also convinced 
that there is not such a wide difference bet- 
ween experimental beriberi (polyneuritis avia- 
rum) and human beriberi and I think we 
should adopt a generic denomination for 
both. 
GRIJNS demonstrated that sago, tapioca 
and meat, heated in an autoclave to 1209, pro- 
voked polyneuritis, almost as easily as polish- 
ed rice. In 1901 he found that beans of 
the kind called Katjangidjo have a pro- 
tective and curative action on the birds fed 
on polished rice. He however adopted the 
opinion that the disease was a real poison- 
ing which could be neutralised and even 
prevented by feeding on rice-husks or Kat 
jangidjo. GRIJNS however discarded the idea 
of infection. 
In 1910 SCHAUMAN, in a series of 
experiments on polyneuritis gallinarum, came 
to the conclusion that it is a disease of meta- 
bolism, provoked by the absence of certain 
not determined organic combinations of phos- 
phates in the food. He even determined 
that good rice ought to contain 0,4 penta- 
