94 AEON. 



All chickens fed for some four to five weeks on white rice developed 

 the typical symptoms of polyneuritis 23 as the) r have been described by 

 Eykman and other investigators. These are very characteristic and 

 scarcely need pathologic-anatomic confirmation. The weakness of the 

 legs and the characteristic gait of the birds are sufficient to confirm 

 the diagnosis. 



It is evident from these experiments that chickens which are given 

 white rice alone do not live much over thirty-five days, whereas the birds 

 fed on white rice 'plus phytic acid live for a considerably longer time. 

 One fowl from the first group which received phytic acid, survived for three 

 months, being under observation continually, whereas a second bird fed 

 on white rice together with phytic acid contracted the disease and died, 

 but it did so at a later time than the control chickens fed on white rice 

 only. 



In the second set of experiments, I succeeded by the addition of the 

 calcium salt of phytic acid in keeping two chickens alive for nearly three 

 months on white rice only. However, one chicken already became ill 

 after 3 weeks and died on the 38th day. I can not state the exact reason 

 for this result, but I believe it to be true that the bird did not take enough 

 phytin in the beginning of the experiment in which fowls were fed on a 

 mixture of rice and phytic acid and at which period they were more or 

 less able to select those grains of rice which were comparatively not as 

 thoroughly mixed with the preparation. 



We may draw the conclusion that without doubt phytic acid renders 

 the effect of a diet of white rice less damaging. I did not have as great 

 success by the use of phytic acid as in feeding red rice, or by adding darac 

 (rice husk), neither was the protective effect as great as that described 

 by Eykman when he gave red rice, or added beans or meat to the diet. 



Schaumann, 13 in his latest communication, which came into my hands 

 for the first time after I had finished the experiments described above, 

 shows that he was able to protect pigeons from the damaging effect of 

 white rice by the addition of yeast or wheat bran. These experiments 

 increase the number of substances which we already know and which act 

 as a protection against, polyneuritis produced by feeding white rice. 

 However, all of these other experiments do not prove which constituent of 



28 The histologic examination of the nervi ischiadici and tibiales of these 

 animals and of those described farther on in this paper was kindly under- 

 taken by Dr. Vernon L. Andrews, of the pathological laboratory of the Phil- 

 ippine Medical School. The sections showed plainly a number of degenerated 

 fibers in the nerves. 



