254 CHAMBERLAIN AND VEDDER. 



and preventive power as the beans themselves, so that the neuritis- 

 preventing principle of these legumes is evidently soluble in hot water. 

 Our work, detailed below, has shown that the active neuritis-preventing 

 principle of rice polishings is soluble in both cold alcohol and cold 

 water. 



Experiment 1. — One kilogram of rice polishings was mixed with 

 about 3,000 cubic centimeters of water and allowed to macerate over 

 night. The resultant mixture was filtered carefully after extraction 

 had proceeded for 24 hours. Tavo thousand cubic centimeters of a deep 

 yellow liquid was obtained. 



Pour fowls were now fed on polished rice and given daily 20 cubic 

 centimeters of this filtrate. In this way the fowls received the sub- 

 stances extracted by cold water from 10 grams of polishings. After 

 the experiment had proceeded for several weeks and the fowls appeared 

 to remain in health the dose of the extract was reduced to 10 cubic 

 centimeters. These four fowls all remained healthy for 70 days at the 

 end of which period the experiment was discontinued. 



The neuritis-preventing principle of rice polishings is therefore soluble 

 in cold distilled water. 



Experiment 2. — One kilogram of rice polishings was mixed with 

 3,000 cubic centimeters 95 per cent alcohol. After macerating for 24 

 hours, the resultant fluid was filtered, the filtrate being a perfectly 

 clear, light green liquid. The polishings were expressed in a towel 

 to obtain the whole of the fluid. This clear alcoholic extract was 

 placed in a water bath on which an electric fan was turned. The 

 alcohol was evaporated rapidly by this method without much rise in 

 temperature. When the alcohol had all disappeared the remaining 

 liquid was placed in a separating funnel and after standing for aboiit 

 half an hour, there was a clear separation into two layers. The upper 

 and larger layer was a deep green in color and contained all the fat 

 extracted by this method. The lower and smaller layer was brown in 

 color and was a thick, sirupy liquid. By carefully pouring distilled 

 water into the funnel the separation of these two layers was rendered 

 easier, since the water lay in a third layer below the fats but above 

 the brown liquid. The lower layer of brown sirupy liquid was then 

 drawn off. The fat was discarded, since it has repeatedly been shown 

 that the fat of rice polishing has nothing to do with the prevention 

 of neuritis. The lower layer therefore contained all the substances that 

 were dissolved out of the polishings by cold alcohol except the fats. 

 About 25 cubic centimeters of this extracted material was obtained from 

 1 kilogram of polishings and was then mixed with 1,000 cubic centimeters 

 of distilled water, when a precipitate was formed consisting of those 

 substances, other than the fats, that are soluble in alcohol but not in 

 water. 



