TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION M. 749 
The present investigation of beri-beri throws an entirely new light on the 
physiological importance of pyrimidine and purine bodies. 
Dr. C. Crowruer defended the attitude of the agricultural chemist in 
attempting to compare the nutritive value of farm foods on the basis of their 
chemical composition, despite the admittedly imperfect nature of present know- 
ledge and methods of computation of nutritive values. He was of opinion that 
the method of comparison on the basis of starch equivalents, as put forward by 
Kellner, might be usefully employed for practical purposes. Further, that the 
data advanced during the discussion, when properly interpreted, were in no way 
conclusive in their bearing upon this point. Practical feeding experiments in 
Denmark, conducted upon a very large scale and according to a uniform plan, 
had led to a scale of relative values for different foods which, with few 
exceptions, was almost identical with that deduced from their starch-equivalents. 
Professor J. J. R. Macteop, Professor J. Henprick, Dr. Goopwin, Mr. J. 
Gotpinc, and Dr. Mivsurn continued the discussion. 
