INFANTILE BERIBERI. 83 



<tnd hypertrophied. The lunjys are coriKested and cedematous. The spleen 

 and liver are dark colored and conjjested. The kidneys are pale. Intes- 

 tines contain a few worms. 



EXPERIMENT NO. ;;. 



In this instance the woman, Case VIII, objected to nursinj;; a puppy 

 whose eyes were closed. To overcome this difficulty I had to give a puppy 

 that was 14 days old and this fact may have had an influence on the 

 effect produced in the puppy. The woman did not exhibit marked symptoms; 

 slight shortness of breath and numbness of legs were most noticeable. 

 She was given two puppies, but one was .soon taken away because she 

 had not sufficient milk for both. She began nursing the puppies October 

 30, about one week after the death of her child from typical infantile 

 beriberi, and continued nursing one of them till December 29, when it died. 

 During the first three weeks the puppy gradually lost in weight. It also 

 vomited occasionally after nursing and had a number of convulsions. 

 These attacks lasted from five to seven minutes, the woman said. They 

 would begin with whining and frothing at the mouth, and then the muscles 

 would become rigid. I never saw the puppy in one of these attacks. They 

 were said to occur at night as well as in the day time. Altogether it 

 had 6 convulsions that the woman noticed. 



At the end of third week it was somewhat emaciated, but began to 

 gain in weight and continued to gain until the last week of life. During 

 the third week of nursing it was noticed that its front feet were becoming 

 oedematous. This condition became worse, and later the hind feet began 

 to swell. The puppy became very weak and staggered about while walking, 

 but it never lost complete control of its muscles and was always able 

 to move about. It died December 29, after it had been nur.sed by the 

 woman for two months. 



Necropsy. — Body of an emaciated puppy. Subcutaneous tissues are 

 oedematous and anaemic. Twenty cubic centimeters of fluid in the peri- 

 toneal cavity. The heart is pale, otherwise apparently normal. Lungs are 

 slightly congested and oedematous. No increase of fluid in pericardial or 

 pleural sacs. Spleen dark colored, normal markings. Kidneys pale, moist. 

 Liver dark red, apparently normal. Stomach normal. Intestines show the 

 presence of hookworms and several minute areas in which small haemor- 

 rhages have apparently taken place. 



EXPERIMENT NO. 4. 



The puppies were 7 days old when the woman. Case 10, began to nurse 

 them on November 15, 1911, five days after the death of her infant from 

 typical infantile beriberi. The woman had loss of knee jerks. She easily 

 became tired on exertion, and her legs were weak. There was no numbness 

 or areas of anaesthesia in the legs. 



Puppy which died December H, 1911. — This puppy lost in weight for 

 the first five days, then gradually increased until death. 



At the end of the first two weeks it was noticed that its feet were 



beginning to swell and were becoming cedematous. From this time on 



it exhibited symptoms of weakne.=s. Its front ankles turned under it 



when it attempted to stand. In walking it staggered from side to side 



111052 — 2 



