ERADICATION OF BERIBERI. 141 



Table V. — Admissions for beriieri hy months, calendar years 1908 to 1910.'' 



Year. 



Jan. 



Feb. 



Mar. 



Apr. 



May. 



June. 



July. 



Aug. 



Sept. 



Oct. 



Nov. 



Deo. 



Total. 



1908 



14 

 138 

 19 



34 



89 



8 



102 

 96 

 12 



23 



88 



3 



51 

 38 



4 



33 



24 

 1 



55 



28 







39 



36 



2 



63 



7 

 



59 



27 







88 



22 







63 



11 



1 



624 



604 



60 



1909 



1910 





From a study of Table lY, it is plain that beriberi was very prevalent 

 during 1902 and 1903 and that there was a slow and gradual yearly 

 decrease in its incidence down to 1907, when the total number of admis- 

 sions had fallen to 115. In 1908 there was a sudden increase to 618 

 admissions, the largest number recorded in any one year. In 1909 the 

 number of admissions was but little less, 558, while for the year 1910 

 there were only 50 admissions, a most significant drop when it is con- 

 sidered that all the sanitary conditions were unchanged except the diet. 

 The drop in the death rate and in the discharge rate are equally 

 remarkable. 



III. EELATIONSHIP BETVFEEN DECREASE OF BERIBERI AND CHANGES IN 



DIETARY. 



It will be seen in Table V that 39 (or 80 per cent) of the admissions 

 occurring in 1910 appeared in the first three months of the year, a time 

 when the ration changes recommended by the Board had been in effect 

 but a short time, or were just being put into effect. It is important to 

 note that some decrease in admissions began in the last quarter of 1909 

 and that just prior to that time members of the Board had visited many 

 Scout posts, especially those where the disease was rife, and had in- 

 vestigated the dietary actually in use and advised company commanders 

 to limit the daily consumption of rice and to use liberally the other 

 components of the ration instead of economizing for the purpose of 

 making cash savings. We believe that the effect of the Board's recom- 

 mendations at the Scout posts visited, followed by the ration changes 

 inaugurated by the division commander and by General Orders, No. 24, 

 has been to diminish the quantity of rice consumed by Scout companies 



^ Table IV, except for the year 1910, is taken from the reports of the Surgeon- 

 General of the Army. Table V is compiled from records in the office of the 

 Chief Surgeon, Philippines Division. The discrepancy between the total admis- 

 sions in the two tables is due to the fact that in the chief surgeon's record a 

 new admission is recorded if a patient is transferred from one hospital to another, 

 whereas in the Surgeon-General's report , one admission is recorded for such a 

 case. The admissions (50) for 1910 should really be compared with the chief 

 surgeon's figures for 1908 and 1909 (624 and 604, respectively). This would 

 make the showing even more favorable than is given in the text. Fractionally it 

 means that the admissions for 1910 were less than one-twelfth of the average 

 for the two preceding years. 



