ETIOLOGY OF BERIBERI. 399 



also made containing 2 per cent of chemically pure sucrose in distilled 

 ■water. 



Eight fowls were now fed on polished rice. The first four were given a 

 daily dose of 10 cubic centimeters of the fermented extract, while the 

 second four were given 10 cubic centimeters daily of the solution of 

 sucrose. The result of this experiment was as follows : 



Group A: Four fowls fed on polished rice plus 10 cubic centimeters 

 of fermented extract daily. — One fowl died of inanition, after thirty 

 days having refused to eat for several weeks. This fowl did not have 

 neuritis. The three remaining fowls were alive and well at the end of 

 fifty days when the experiment was discontinued. 



Group B: Four fowls fed on polished rice plus 10 cubic centimeters 

 of a 3 per cent solution of sucrose. — One died of inanition in twenty- 

 four days without neuritis; one developed neuritis in twenty-six days; 

 one developed neuritis in twenty-eight days; one was alive and well at 

 the end of fifty days when the experiment was discontinued. 



Neuritis developed in 2 of the 4 fowls which received sucrose in 

 twenty-six and twenty-eight days respectively, and did not develop dur- 

 ing fifty days in any of 4 fowls that received the extract deprived of 

 sucrose. This indicates that the sucrose is of no importance in the 

 prevention of neuritis. 



Experiment 6. — This experiment arrived at the same result as regards 

 the inefficiency of sucrose, but in a different manner. An extract of 

 rice polishings was prepared by the method detailed in our previous 

 paper (1), and was slowly filtered through bone black (animal charcoal). 

 As is well known this kind of charcoal adsorbs many substances, but 

 allows practically the entire bulk of the sugar in a solution to pass 

 through. The extract as poured on the bone black was yellow in color, 

 but the filtrate through the bone black was perfectly clear and appeared 

 like water. However, fermentation tests, showed that this filtrate con- 

 tained practically all of the sucrose present in the original extract. 



The bone black remaining on the filter was then transferred to a 

 flask and repeatedly shaken and washed with distilled water in order 

 to remove, if possible, the ingredients separated from the extract by this 

 substance. The attempt was only partially successful, since a clear fluid 

 having a very faint bluish tint was obtained, as compared with the 

 straw-colored fluid originally poured upon the bone black.'' 



Eight fowls were then fed on polished rice. The first 4 were given a 

 daily dose of 10 cubic centimeters of the filtrate through bone black while 

 the second 4 received a daily dose of 10 cubic centimeters of the sub- 

 stances subsequently removed from the bone black by distilled water. 

 The result of this experiment is as follows : 



'The bluish tinge is believed to have been due to some impurity in the 

 charcoal. 



