RICE DIET. 195 



receiving nothing but water do not develop polyneuritis, while fowls receiving 

 onlj' polished rice and water do." 



The only statement to the contrary, we have found in the literature, is that 

 made in the discussion of the beriberi papers (18) by Dr. Gorosaku Shibayama, 

 delegate from His Imperial Japanese Majesty's Government to the meeting of 

 the Far Eastern Association of Tropical Medicine, held at Manila, March 5, 1910. 

 He said, "Polyneuritis accompanies general cachexia and inanition in fowls, 

 whereas beriberi, esj^ecially the acute, pernicious form, generally attacks well- 

 nourished muscular men." 



This statement agrees exactly with the findings in our starvation 

 experiments, and we believe the reason the evidences of neuritis were 

 overlooked by other workers is that they appear very shortly before 

 death and are obscured by the signs of general weakness. It is not an 

 easy matter to resume feeding at exactly the proper moment to save 

 the animal and leave the neuritis well developed. 



V. RELATION OF LOSS OF WEIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT OF POLYNEURITIS 



GALLINARUM. 



The amount an animal can lose and stiU live varies somewhat with 

 the individual. Withington, (19) in discussing starvation, refers to the 

 following : 



Chossat stated that the total proportional weight loss of an animal dying of 

 inanition was 40 per cent of the initial weight. But further experiments have 

 shown that a fat animal may lose 50 per cent of its weight, while a lean one 

 can lose only 35 per cent. Yovmg animals in a growing stage have been observed 

 to lose only 30 per cent before tliey succumbed. 



-:f- ■;;■ -::- -::- ^f ■):- -J!- 



The ingestion of water, then, while postponing the fatal result of a fast, 

 produces no important change in the mode of death from that which occurs in 

 simple inanition. 



Le Dantec says that in polyneuritis of fowls, when fed on polished rice, the 

 loss of weight is progressive and death occurs when the animals have lost about 

 one-third of their body weight. 



Our two fowls, numbers 18 and 19, fed on reduced amounts of lui- 

 dermilled rice, lost an average of 40.6 per cent to the end of the experi- 

 ment, which was death in the case of number 19, and rescue by resuming 

 full diet in the case of the other, number 18. 



Those which developed easily recognized signs of multiple neuritis 

 while being given only water, numbers 17, 44, and 55, lost on an average 

 31.5 per cent up to the time of the appearance of the disease and 37.5 

 per cent to the end of the starvation period when feeding was resumed. 

 The losses in this class correspond very closely with those of classes 1, 2, 

 and 3 in which the fowls developed the disease on polished rice alone and 

 where the decrease in weight averaged 31.6 per cent to the appearance 

 of signs of neuritis and 39.9 per cent to the end of the experiment, which 

 was death in the case of eight and salvation by mixed feeding in two 

 out of the ten fowls. 



