76 TIIGHET. 



3. Still another fact in favor of the same theory comes from the 

 Reformatory School at Koh Si Chang in the Gulf of Siam. I can not 

 do better than to quote a note upon this subject forwarded to me by Mr. 

 E. St. J. Lawson, the commissioner of police under whose charge the 

 reformatory is placed. The "station" mentioned is the police station on 

 the island. Mr. Lawson writes : 



The reformatory was started on March 5, 1908. There were no eases of 

 beriberi either amongst the police or in the reformatory until I sent steam- 

 milled rice from Bangkok. I did this because the men complained of the high 

 price of rice on the island and asked me to buy and send to them. In the middle 

 of February, 1909, I started sending hand-ground rice for the station and school 

 use, and changed this to parboiled rice in April. There has not been a single 

 case of beriberi, either in the reformatory or station since the change from 

 steam-milled rice. 



To supplement Mr. Lawson's remarks, I may say that there was no 

 medical man on the island, that only serious cases were sent up to Bang- 

 kok, that 5 of these, out of a total of 50 boys, were admitted to the hospiatl 

 between November, 1908, and the middle of February, 1909,' and that I 

 can not state how many mild cases there may have been. 



However, a change of rice from steam-milled to hand-milled and then 

 to parboiled rice, as soon as we could supply it from the asylum, pre- 

 vented any further cases. 



4. The jails in the outlying districts of Bangkok afford us a further 

 proof. In four of these jails, fresh, hand-milled rice is supplied to the 

 prisoners, and in these beriberi is a distinct rarity. However, in two 

 of these jails, steam-milled rice is supplied and beriberi is frequent. 

 Unfortunately, I have not yet obtained details with regard to prisoners 

 either admitted suffering from beriberi, or developing the disease in 

 these jails, or as to the daily average number of prisoners under observa- 

 tion, but the rough figures for the year 1908-9 are as follows : Four 

 jails on hand-milled rice give 5 cases and no deaths; 2 jails on steam- 

 milled rice give 20 cases and S deaths. 



5. From an administrative point of view, my most striking experience 

 was gained at the Police School in Bangkok. Conscription for the 

 Bangkok police having come into force, some 400 conscripts were admit- 

 ted to the Police School early in January, 1909. The rice was white, 

 steam-milled, and was supplied by a contractor. It was frequently in- 

 spected along with the other articles of food, and on all occasions appeared 

 to be of good quality. However, within a fortnight after commencing to 

 eat this rice, beriberi broke out and at the end of a month 353 out of a 

 total of 400 conscripts' had contracted the disease. Practically all these 

 men had come from the country districts outside of Bangkok and most 

 of them had been accustomed to eat only fresh, hand-milled rice. 



All the sick men were sent home on a month's leave, at the end of 

 which time very many returned well, many were much improved, while 



