great efficacy. The celebrated case described 
by VEDDER ought to be known, and we here- 
with give a summary of it: 
CIRILLO TAQUINEZ entered the Ge- 
neral Hospital of Manilla on September the 
5th. On the 9th. VEDDER found him in bed 
suffering from an intense dyspsnoea, breathing 
with the greatest efforts. The pulse was 150 
a minute; respiration 45 and the heart— beat 
violent. It was the typical history of a chro- 
nic case of beriberi with acute cardiac exa- 
cerbation. All the muscles were attacked and 
extremely paintul when touched. For several 
days the patient had not eaten, on account 
of his vomiting. The assistant-doctor thought 
he could not live through the night and as 
the case was so serious, resolved to give it 
over to VEDDER. The latter ordered alcoho- 
lic extract of rice-bran which was given at 11 
o’clock in the morning of the 9th. Fortuna- 
tely the patient retained it. In the afternoon 
he got better, his pulse fell to 80 and respi- 
ration to 30. The next day he had a fresh 
exacerbation and was again given the alco- 
holic extrait of a kilo of rice-bran. The dose 
was administered daily for a fortnight. The 
cardiac symptoms did not reappear; the hy- 
peraesthesia of the muscles diminished a 
great deal, he did not vomit any more and 
regained his appetite improving greatly in 
appearance though the paralysis remained. 
Similar results were obtained in other 
cases so that it was clearly proved that the 
disease was human beriberi (dropsycal form), 
easily cured by this process. In the dropsycal 
form and for cardiac trouble this remedy is 
therefore useful. 
For the paralysis dependant on the lesion 
of the nerves and muscular fibres there exists 
no sure remedy; itcan only be cured slowly, 
and by intelligent and careful dieting of the 
patient. This is easy to be understood as the 
restoration of important elements in the struc- 
ture and the restitution ad integrum of a cell, 
such as the striated. fibre or neuron can only 
be effected with comparative slowness and 
only if the destruction be not definite and 
total. 
105 ——— 
An objection of great scientific value 
against our arguments was emitted by the 
well known Brazilian doctor MIGUEL COU- 
TO, in his book published in July 1916. He 
cannot believe that rice is the principal factor 
in causing beriberi, as was proved by BRAD- 
DON at he Congress of London, since rice 
does not cause beriberi as often in Brazil 
as in Asia and Oceania; he resumes all his 
objections in the following conclusions repro- 
duced here textually: 
As to symptomatology and as to clinical 
forms, evolution, anatomic substratum our 
beriberi is the same type as asiatic beriberi 
but it differs in aetiology, as is proved by 
the following facts. 
1. The rice consumed by the people in 
the North is the same (1), both raw and cooked, 
as that eaten in the South; we have no 
reason to believe that it differs much in the 
quantity consumed, yet in the North beriberi 
is endemic and abundant and in the south 
almost unknown. (2) 
2. In Brazil beriberi is more prevalent, 
in some States, and in these it is found in 
certain localities and in certain buildings, 
where there are agglomerations of human 
beings, while on the other hand the rice 
eaten by all is the same. 
3. Rice is one of the staple articles of 
food in our country; it is not used so as to 
exclude other foods but it is eaten by al) 
classes, and the vitamine esse quid is wan- 
ting to all, whilst some people are attacked 
with beriberi and others not. 
4. Whilst there must be a receptive or. 
ganism for infections to develop, intoxica- 
tions have a universal action; but of all the 
people in our country who eat rice, some 
contract beriberi and others not. 
Note 1. The italies are mine. Certainly Professor 
COUTO did not know that most of the rice eaten in 
the north comes from Rangoon and the Caroline Is- 
lauds. 
Note 2. In a previous paper, I noted that the india- 
rubber workers eat only, for months at a time, dried 
meat, flour, rice and beans all of which are imported, 
and make long journeys also remaining stored for some 
time. 
