RICE DIET. 



183 



in a cage and fed on palay (unliusked rice) and kitchen stuff composed of scraps 

 of meat, bread, and vegetables. He was then fed on Saigon polished rice, being 

 allowed 118 grams of rice daily, and, unlike most of the fowls we have used, 

 he ate it all day after day. 



He did well until June 23, the 39th day, -when he staggered slightly on turning. 

 July 2, the 48th day, he was observed to go down on his knees ° after exertion. 

 From the 48th to the 90th days he remained about the same, showing his trouble 

 after exercise, but doing very well when not hurried. On August 12, the 90th 

 day, he showed j)ronounced and typical signs of neuritis, namely, drooping of 

 the wings and inability to keep the legs extended at the knee. 



His weight, shown on Chart 1, ran as follows : 



Date. 



May 16 



May 21 



June 1 



June 11 



June 18 



June 23 



July 2 



July 9 



July 16 



July 23 



July 30 



August 6 



August 12___ 

 August 20___ 



August 27 



September 4 

 September 6 



Day. 



Grams. 



1st - __ 





6th 



878 



17th .... 



786 



27th . 



722 



34th .... 



736 



39th . . 



680 



48th . - 



701 



55th 



687 



62d_.,-_ 



694 



69th . 



708 



76th . 



708 



83d 



637 



89th .._- 



623 



97th ___ 



666 



104th .- 



715 



112th 



722 



114th ... 



710 



Remarks. 



Saigon rice begun. 



Staggers. 

 Occasionally on knees. 



Mixed feeding begun. 



Chloroformed 



On the 39th day, . when the earliest signs of neuritis appeared, he had lost 

 22.6 per cent of body weight. From this day to the 76th he remained almost 

 stationary, but from that time on began to lose rapidly until on the 90tli day, 

 when the sigTis of multiple neuritis were marked, he had lost 29.1 per cent. 



On the 90th day this fowl (number 5) was given a mixed diet of palay and 

 kitchen stirff, in an effort to save him so as to see whether or not spasticity 

 would supervene, as it had in the case of another fowl (number 17) similarly 

 saved from death by mixed diet after the development of neuritis. It had been 

 our experience that fowls went on rapidly to death after acquiring multiple 

 neuritis, rarely living more than five or six days, but in this case (number 5) 

 we were able to save the fowl, and, while his general condition greatly improved 

 from the first, the signs of neuritis grew more marked for several days and then 

 remained stationary until the 114th day, when he was chloroformed. 



In addition to the usual leg and wing signs of neuritis there gradually de- 

 veloped a spastic gait: The fowl would stand and walk with knees stiff, teetering 

 forward on the toes, and with the ball of the foot scarcely touching the ground. 

 In an effort to maintain his balance he would take short, quick steps, and seemed 

 to carry the body so far forward that his feet had to hurry to keep up. Figures 

 2 and 3 are from photographs taken to show the spasticity, but unfortunately 

 do not give a very good idea of it. 



" In this paper "knees" means the joint formed by the tibio-tarsus and tarso- 

 metatarsus. 



