2 VITAMINES 



many as a quarter of the men being afflicted. Baron 

 Takaki, lately returned to his own country after a 

 study of modern medicine, found that the dietary 

 was very imperfect, and instituted an improved 

 ration with complete success. Beri-beri is still a 

 terrible scourge amongst the inhabitants of the 

 Malay States ; is often seen in coolies at English 

 seaports ; and has broken out in an asylum in 

 Dublin. Improving the allowance of food in the 

 prisons of the Straits Settlements has failed to limit 

 the disease. 



The outstanding feature of the incidence of beri- 

 beri in the Straits is, that while the Tamils are exempt, 

 the Chinese suffer severely. Rice is the main article 

 of diet with both races, but with this difference, 

 that whereas the Tamils store their rice and boil it in 

 husk, the Chinese use husked rice such as we are 

 accustomed to in this country, though, of course, 

 with us rice is a very much less important item in the 

 daily dietary. The Chinese are extremely prone to 

 beri-beri ; the Tamils very seldom suffer. This 

 cannot be due to any racial pecuharity, because 

 Tamils in prison and fed on husked rice are just as 

 liable as the Chinese. 



The explanation usually given has been that the 

 bare rice grain becomes contaminated in some way ; 

 but recent experiments by Casimir Funk and others 

 bring out another aspect of the case. It is possible 

 in pigeons to produce a peripheral neuritis closely 

 resembling beri-beri by feeding exclusively on 

 polished rice, and when small quantities of husk are 

 added the birds rapidly recover. The essential 



