272 STRONG AND CROWELL. 



1909. At the close of their publication regarding this experi- 

 ment, these authors state : 



The general results [of these experiments] lend support to the view 

 that the disease beriberi as it occurs in this Peninsula has, if not its origin 

 in, at least, an intimate relationship with the consumption of white rice 

 and justify further research along these lines. 



We have referred to the fact that the theories regarding the 

 etiology of beriberi have been numerous. However, it is not 

 our intention to consider them in detail in this publication. They 

 have been discussed in numerous text-books and, among other 

 authors, particularly by Herzog of this laboratory in 1906,^ and 

 more recently by Castellani^ and by Schaumann.* However, we 

 wish to consider briefly the question of whether beriberi is an 

 infectious disease, owing its origin to some living specific mi- 

 croorganism, either bacterial or protozoal, or its toxin, and con- 

 veyed directly or indirectly from man to man, or whether it is 

 one due to disturbances in metabolism caused by an abnormal 

 diet. Among those who have had a wide experience with beri- 

 beri and who have favored the theory that the disease is an in- 

 fectious one and not one due to deficient or scanty nutrition may 

 be mentioned Manson,^ Scheube,® Balz,^ Jeanselme,^ le Dantec,' 

 Marchoux," Daniels,^^ Wright,^^ Castellani,^^ and Shibayama,^* 

 and the arguments which some of these writers deduce 

 against the theory of a dietetic causation are very convincing. 

 Castellani,^^ writing in 1910 after a consideration of Fraser and 

 Stanton's experiments, states : 



* This Journal (1906), 1, 709. 



* Castellani and Chalmers, Manual of Tropical Medicine. London (1910), 

 888. 



*Beiheft z. Arch. f. Schiffs- u. Trop.-Hyg. (1910), 14, 329. 



'Tropical Diseases. London (1907), 367; AUbutt's System of Medicine 

 (1907), 2, Pt. II, 619. 



® Die Krankheiten der warmen Lander. Jena (1903), 265, 



' Mense's Handbuch der Tropenkrankheiten (1905), 146. 



' Le beriberi. Paris (1907), 1; Bull. Soc. path, exotique (1910), 3, 8. 



'Ibid., Bull. Soc. path, exotique (1910), 63, 118, 122. 



^'Ibid., 116. 



" Studies from Institute for Medical Research. Federated Malay States 

 (1906), 4, No. 8, Pt. I, 91. 



"/6id. (1902), 2, No. 2, 58. 



" Loc. cit. 



" This Journal, Sec. B (1910), 5, 123. 



" Castellani and Chalmers, Manual of Tropical Medicine. London (1910), 

 884. 



