PHOSPHORUS STARVATION : I. 97 



It seems not out of place to mention here some other work which may 

 have an important bearing on the question under consideration. 



Quite recently Stepps" has shown that mice when fed on a bread made of 

 flour and milk, which had been extracted with ether or acetone and so deprived 

 of the lipoids, died in a few weeks, while they survived if given the -unextracted 

 bread or the extracted bread plus the extract. The author emphasizes the 

 absence of fat after this process, but I think that the extraction probably removes 

 the organic compounds of phosphorus (lipoids) and the loss of these bodies makes 

 the bread unfit for fo6d. The action of food poor in phosphorus on young 

 animals has been studied in the last year by Hart, MeCollum and Fuller - s 

 and by Heubner and Lipschiitz. 20 In both publications the authors state that 

 pathologic lesions of the skeletal system are the main results of the taking of 

 food lacking in phosphorus, but, in addition, Heubner and Lipschiitz report that 

 they have observed nervous symptoms in one of their dogs, and they mention the 

 possible connection of this question with beriberi. 



. CONCLUSIONS. 



If we summarize our experiments and the observations recorded in 

 the literature, we can state as follows : 



1. Certain foodstuffs, especially rice, which are relatively poor in phos- 

 phorus (phytin) if they are the main or exclusive article of diet for any 

 great length of time, have been shown by various authors to cause beriberi. 



2. The process of polishing removes the outer, layers from the rice; 

 these are rich in phosphorus, especially soluble organic compounds of that 

 element (phytin). They are food constituents probably of high physio- 

 logic importance. 



3. A diet similar to that which is regarded as the probable cause of 

 beriberi if exclusively given for any length of time to animals, is not 

 sufficient to keep them in normal health. 



4. Poljoieuritis has been observed in chickens receiving a food similar 

 to that which is regarded as causing beriberi, namely, white rice; the 

 addition of organic phosphorus in the form of phytin or its salts 

 considerably, but not entirely, reduces the deleterious effect of a diet 

 (white rice) which can produce polyneuritis in chickens. 



- l Bioohem. Ztschr. (1909), 22, 452-460. 

 a Amer. Joum. Physiol. (1908), 23, 246-277. 

 20 Terhandl. 26 Vers. Gesellsch. f. Kinderheilk. (1909), 149-161. 

 94620 7 



