130 



KILBOLRNE. 



reliable conclusions can be drawn. From the analysis of one predominat- 

 ing article of food we might conclude that the Irish peasant has this or 

 that disease because the potatoes, which constitute a large part of his 

 diet, contain a very small percentage of phosphorus. If we examine his 

 entire ration we find that this element is amply supplied by milk and 

 eggs, which are easily and cheaply obtained. Eykman 4 and Sakaki 5 

 have shown that fowls fed on polished rice develop polyneuritis in five 

 to. ten weeks, but horses develop a condition akin to beriberi ° when fed 

 on vmhusked grain, the food which prevents the condition in the case of 

 the fowls. We have no means of knowing that these diseases in animals 

 are caused by the same conditions that induce human beriberi. Monkeys, 

 in our laboratory, fed on boiled, polished rice and water alone, showed no 

 bad effects for fourteen weeks and actually gained in weight. 



To determine in what respect the diets containing a considerable pro- 

 portion of polished rice are at fault, the United States Army Board for 

 the Study of Tropical Diseases as They Exist in the Philippines, of which 

 I am a member, has, during the past year, studied the situation as it 

 exists in the native troops (Philippine Scouts). To obtain reliable and 

 accurate data from the civilian natives is impossible; only in a military 

 organization, prison, school, or other similar body is it possible to exercise 

 a control sufficient to make the findings of any value. Consequently, 

 our observations on the civilian population are of a general nature only 

 and made from material incidentally gathered while working on beriberi 

 among the Scouts. 



The Scouts .were organized in 1901. The annual reports of the Surgeon- 

 General of the United States Army first mention beriberi as occurring among 

 individuals of this body of troops in 1902. 



Beriberi in the Philippine Scouts. 



Year. 



Admissions 



per 1,000. 



Deaths 

 per ] , 000. 



Year. 



Admissions 

 per 1 ,000. 



Deaths, 

 per 1,000 



1902 



1903 



1904... 



7.75 



9.42 



74. 62 



35.93 



0.38 



.37 



1.52 



1.21 



1906 



36.98 

 24.58 

 121.53 



1.79 

 1.28 

 1.35 



1907 . . 



1908 



1905 











In 1909 the admissions of scouts to sick report, because of beriberi, were 

 only exceeded in number by two other causes, malaria and miscellaneous digestive 

 troubles. 



It was evident, after a study of the data obtained from the records of 

 these companies, that the amounts of proteid, fat and carbohydrate actu- 

 ally consumed were sufficient. 



4 Polyneuritis bij Hoenders. Geneesk. Tijd. v. Ned. Ind. (1896)., 36. 



5 Sai-i-Eicai (1903), March 31, April 30. 



"Braddon, W. L. The Cause and Prevention of Beriberi. (1907), 350. 



