ETIOLOGY OF BERIBERI. 281 



contain 1.875 j^rains. Hence, according to Fales, the disappearance of the 

 disease when a sufficiency of vegetables, especially of potatoes, was given. 

 But he says this deficiency is only a predisposing cause, which enables 

 the micro-organism, whatever it is, which is the true cause of the di-sease, 

 to flourish and produce the symptoms. 



Ellis,''-' in 1903, was convinced that the consumption of moldy, 

 microbic, or otherwise diseased rice is not a cause of beriberi 

 and that his experiments completely disproved any connection 

 between beriberi and food. Later, in 1909, •"' he performed ex- 

 periments in the Singapore Lunatic Asylum in feeding the in- 

 mates cured and uncured rice. He concludes that since only 

 cured rice has been employed in the asylum, there has been no 

 recurrence of the disease for over a year, although formerly there 

 were many outbreaks of it. 



Fraser and Stanton,""* as has already been mentioned, carried 

 out important experiments with reference to Braddon's ideas 

 regarding the causation of beriberi. On account of the great 

 importance of their investigations, we shall quote freely from 

 their report, as follows: 



The investigation hereinafter described was undertaken primarily to 

 determine if, when other factors were excluded or controlled people fed on 

 white rice did develop Beri-Beri and if people under exactly similar con- 

 ditions but fed on parboiled rice did not develop the disease. It was 

 hoped also that opportunity would be forthcoming for the investigation 

 of other aspects of the question. 



At the outset it is necessary to state that the disease under investigation 

 is that form of multiple peripheral neuritis, known as Beri-Beri, which 

 occurs endemically in this peninsula and the neighbouring islands. As 

 much confusion has been caused by assigning this name to classes of cases 

 differing widely in their clinical manifestations it is desirable to make 

 it clear that we seek only for an explanation of this disease as met with 

 here. 



For the purpose of the inquiry it was necessary to obsei-ve two parties 

 of men under similar conditions as to environment, etc., and whose food 

 supply was definitely known. In view of the suggestion [made by numerous 

 observers] that the disease may be bacterial or protozoal in origin it was 

 desirable that the places chosen should have been hitherto uninhabited or 

 that no case of Beri-Beri should have occurred there for some time 

 previously; further the places should be in an isolated district sufficiently 

 remote from towns or villages to exclude as far as possible the entrance 

 of a supposed infection. Such a situation would also have the advantage, 

 on account of the absence of shops, that the men under observation could 

 not readily obtain food other than that supplied to them. It is obvious 

 that the conditions required for such an investigation could not be secured 



"Brit. Med. Journ. (1903), 2, 1268. 

 "Ibid. (1909), 2, 935. 

 •* Loc. cit. 



