THE ERADICATION OF BERIBERI FROM THE PHILIPPINE 



(NATIVE) SCOUTS BY MEANS OF A SIMPLE 



CHANGE IN THEIR DIETARY.' 



By Weston P. Chamberlain.' 



I. CHANGES IN THE FILIPINO RATION EOE, SCOUTS ^ IN THE YEAR 1910. 



Influenced by the work of Braddon, Stanton, Fraser and others on 

 the effects of highly milled rice, this Board investigated in 18 Scout com- 

 panies the incidence of beriberi as related to the diet actually consumed by 

 the men.* As a result of the knowledge gained the Board (then con- 

 sisting of Captains Phalen and Kilbourne) on September 30, 1909, 

 recommended that the following changes be made in the Filipino Scout 

 ration : 



1. That the daily amount of rice used per man be limited to 16 ounces instead 

 of the 20 ounces formerly allowed. 



^ Read, with permission of the Chief Surgeon, Philippines Division, before the 

 Philippine Islands Medical Association at Manila, P. I., February 22 to 24, 1911. 



'Major, Medical Corps, United States Army; President of the Board for the 

 Study of Tropical Diseases as they exist in the Philippine Islands. 



• The organization known as the "Philippine Scouts" consists of approximately 

 5,000 Filipino enlisted men serving as infantry. The commissioned officers are 

 Americans. This organization is under the control of and supported by the War 

 Department of the United States and is scattered in small garrisons throughout 

 the Archipelago. The Philippines Constabulary, referred to later, is under the 

 control of the Insular Government and has an enlisted strength of about 4,000 

 Filipinos. It is much more widely scattered in smaller garrisons than is the 

 Scout organization and it has an entirely diflferent system of rationing its men. 



* Kilbourne, E. D., Food Salts in Relation to Beriberi. This Journal, Sec. B 

 (1910), 5, 127. 



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