VITAMINS 



posed to change the diet of the Japanese Navy from 

 rice diet and to add meat, bread, fruit, and vegetables. 

 The result was an immediate reduction in cases of beri- 

 beri. Rice then was early indicated as one of the 

 offending articles of diet in the production of this dis- 

 ease. It would take too long to follow out all the in- 

 vestigations that were developed after the idea that 

 beri-beri was due to a certain dietary deficiency first 

 appeared. We will mention only a few of the most 

 important. Of these, the investigations directed or 

 personally conducted by Eijkman, a Dutch investi- 

 gator in Java, deserve special attention. To him we 

 owe two very important contributions. The following 

 table collected by Vordermann at Eijkman's suggestion 

 from Javanese prison cases shows how rice was first 

 convicted of being a casual agent. 



"A glance at this data shows how attention was fo- 

 cused not only on rice but on the polishing of rice, or 

 "silver skin," as the carrier of protection against the 

 disease. In 1896 Eijkman made a very important ac- 

 cidental discovery. He found that chickens fed upon 

 the remains of foods used in a hospital for beri-beri died 



