274 STRONG AND CROWELL. 



can be regarded as tenable no longer. Recently, few investi- 

 gators^° have pursued researches relating to a search for a speci- 

 fic organism for beriberi, but, on the other hand, the theory that 

 the disease owes its origin to disturbances in nutrition has been 

 widely discussed. However, as mentioned, the great majority 

 of these recent publications relate to experiments upon the pro- 

 duction of polyneuritis gallinarum and not to the production of 

 beriberi in man. 



In regard to the relation of polyneuritis gallinarum to beriberi, 

 it seems advisable to consider the views of a number of investi- 

 gators upon this subject. Shibayama" cautions against regard- 

 ing polyneuritis of fowls as being identical with human beriberi, 

 and Eijkman22 states: 



Regarding the question of the relationship between polyneuritis gallina- 

 rum and beriberi, I have always expressed myself very reservedly. I have 

 not claimed their identity in an etiological sense, but I also could not 

 absolutely deny this, and am of the same opinion at the present time. In 

 my first publication (1889) I have mentioned besides the many points of 

 agreement in the two, also some points of difference. 



Schaumann ^^ believes : 



Not that both diseases are identical but that there seem to exist many 

 more reasons for assuming that both are intimately related to each other 

 than to presume the contrary, chiefly by taking into consideration that the 

 same cause must not necessarily have the same results in different organisms. 



Shiga and Kusama^* state: 



It would be too much to say that the polyneuritis of animals and beriberi 

 are identical without further proof. Many prominent authorities, both 

 clinicians and pathologists, are of the opinion that in the diagnosis of 

 human beriberi two chief symptoms, namely the sensory and motor para- 

 lyses of the lower legs and the dilatation and hypertrophy of the heart, 

 must be considered.^"* 



Fraser, in December, 1911, ^^ states: 



On account of the prominence given the experiments on animals, it is 

 possible to lose sight of the fact that we, as medical men, are concerned 

 with the etiology of a disease which affects men, and is known as beriberi. 

 * * * Experiments on fowls have proved to be of an inestimable value 



'"See Breaudat, Bull. Soc. path, exotique (1910), 3, 13, 65, 123, 128, 317; 

 le Dantec, ibid., 62, 118, 122; Mathis and Leger, ibid., 352; and Kohlbriigge, 

 K. Akademie van Wetenschappen te Amsterdam (1911), 904. 



°^Loc. cit. 



''Arch. f. Schiffs- u. Trop.-Hyg. (1911), 15, 702. 



" Trans. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. (1911), 5, 89. 



''Beihefte z. Arch. f. Schiffs- u. Trop.-Hyg. (1911), 15, 65. 



" As Shiga only found dilatation of the heart in one monkey, his subse- 

 quent conclusions seem hardly justified. 



" Trans. Soc. Trop. Med. & Hyg. (1911), 5, 81. 



