A SECOND CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETIOLOGY 

 OF BERIBERI. 1 



By Weston P. Chambeklain and Edward B. Vedder.^ 

 {From United States Army Board for Study of Tropical Diseases.) 



Our previous paper on this subject(l) entitled A Contribution to the 

 Etiology of Beriberi, as well as the present communication, deal exclusively 

 with polyneuritis of fowls. Therefore it is fitting to state, as an explana- 

 tion of our title, that we believe that polyneuritis gallinarum and beriberi 

 are essentially the same disease. The identity of two diseases may be 

 considered from several standpoints, including their etiology, patho- 

 logy, and the symptom complex presented. The causes of beriberi 

 and polyneuritis gallinarum are apparently identical, both diseases being 

 produced by a deficiency of the same as yet unknown substance in the 

 food, and the pathology and symptom complex of the two conditions 

 are practically the same with the exception of the fact that oedema is 

 commonly observed in beriberi and only rarely found in the multiple 

 neuritis of fowls. The similarity is so striking that it is hard to avoid 

 the conclusion that the two conditions are due to the same pathological 

 process causing slightly different manifestations in diverse species. We 

 should expect that two species, varying as widely as man and the domestic 

 fowl in their anatomy and physiology, would react very differently when 

 subjected to the same unfavorable diet of polished rice. The surprising 

 thing, therefore, is not that there are differences in the symptomatology 

 of beriberi and pol3meuritis gallinarum, but that the similarity is as 

 great as it is. 



In a paper by Chamberlain, Bloom'bergh and Kilboume(2) it was 

 shown that in some cases polyneuritis gallinarum could be produced in 

 fowls by prolonged starvation. This observation, however,' does not con- 

 flict with the statement that the etiology of beriberi and polyneuritis 



' Published with permission of the Chief Surgeon, Philippines Division. 



' W. P. Chamberlain, major, Medical Corps, United States Army and Edward 

 B. Vedder, captain. Medical Corps, United States Army, members of the United 

 States Army Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases as they Exist in the 

 Philippine Islands. 



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