78 HIGH EX. 



provided there is a demand for it. What is the essential difference 

 between these various forms of rice? They may be divided into two 

 classes, "overniilled" and "undermilled," the distinction being based 

 upon the presence or absence of the pericarp. 



White, steam-milled rice is so "overscoured" that none of the pericarp 

 remains. It is overmilled. On the other hand, we find that hand- 

 milled, parboiled, and machine-made "undermilled" rice all retain a con- 

 siderable proportion of the pericarp, which gives a reddish tinge to 

 these forms of rice in bulk. All three may be classed together as 

 "undermilled." 



The whole idea of prevention, then, would seem to be that rice, how- 

 ever milled, which retains a considerable proportion of the pericarp, 

 does not cause beriberi, but that the removal of the outer layers of the 

 grain by reason of the scouring process, either takes away a prophylactic 

 agent, or renders the grain liable to deterioration and the consequent 

 production of some active poison. 



postscript™. 



Since writing these notes, prepared in haste on the eve of my depar- 

 ture for Manila, two important events, bearing upon my subject, have 

 occurred. One of these was the receipt, while still in Bangkok, of the 

 latest report by Doctors Fraser and Stanton on "The Etiology of Beri- 

 beri." On my voyage here to Manila I have carefully studied this very 

 valuable contribution to the literature on beriberi, and, naturally, it is 

 a matter of considerable satisfaction to me to find that the conclusions 

 of these two able investigators so absolutely corroborate the results of 

 our work in Siam. As they remark, "the root of the evil lies in the 

 milling process itself ; the polishing of white rice removes from the seed 

 some substance or substances essential to the maintenance of the normal 

 nutrition of nerve tissues." The deductions of Doctors Fraser and 

 Stanton are the result of carefully conducted scientific experiments, 

 assisted by chemical analyses; my experiments were practical adminis- 

 trative acts, forced upon me by local circumstances, but guided by ob- 

 servation of local conditions. The Siamese in the public services declined 

 to eat parboiled rice owing to its stale, musty flavor. A substitute had 

 to be provided in place of white rice, and this was found in the hand- 

 milled grain. 



With regard to parboiled rice, which is now so largely used in public 

 institutions in the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States, 

 one point is, to my mind, clearly proved by Fraser and Stanton, namely, 

 that its prophylactic powers are not due to any sterilization during the 

 process of parboiling, but to the retention of a considerable proportion of 

 the oil-bearing layers of the seed. This proplrylactic property will be 

 found to be distinctly more powerful if the parboiled paddy has been 

 milled by hand. 



