FOOD SALTS IN RELATION TO BERIBERI. 133 



The amounts of phosphorus were computed from percentages given 

 by Balland 8 and the amounts of potassium from Garrod's table. 



The amounts of P 2 5 average 3.3474 grams in the bad companies. 

 3.9399 in those slightly affected, and. 4.6279 in the companies and the 

 prisoners having no beriberi ; a difference of 1.2805 grams between the 

 worst and the best averages. 



Just what amount of phosphorus is necessary for man, I am unable to 

 say. About 3.5 grams phosphoric acid are excreted daily in the urine, 

 and some phosphates of the alkaline earths in the fseees, but even though 

 we were .to determine exactly the intake and outgo we should still 

 be unable to ascertain the amount required, for some of the phosphorus 

 eliminated in the fasces may have been absorbed, used, and returned 

 again for expulsion. A better idea of the amount required, as far as 

 beriberi is concerned, may be gained from the phosphorus content of diets 

 known to prevent beriberi. Such a diet is the garrison ration which 

 is issued to our white soldiers. It contains 6.3433 grams P,0 5 . Pour- 

 fifths of this amount, to correspond to the weight of a Filipino, would 

 be 5.0746 grams. It would seem that this is more than enough. In 

 our third group, consuming an average of 4.6729 grams Po0 5 daily, 

 no beriberi occurred. The Filipino ration, as listed, contains 4.1768 

 grams P 2 O . 



The phosphorus of the food enters the body in three general classes, the 

 soluble phosphates of sodium and potassium, the slightly soluble calcium and 

 magnesium phosphates, and in organic combinations with nuclein, casein, and 

 caseoses. It is not known whether or not calcium phosphate is absorbed from 

 the intestinal tract. It is probable that the phosphoric acid ions are absorbed, 

 chiefly, in combination with sodium' and potassium. 10 From the feeding experi- 

 ments of Hart, McC'ollum and Humphry," it would appear that the phosphorus 

 and potassium of the food are closely associated in their relation to the nutritive 

 processes of the body. 



The amounts of potassium chloride average 1.0600 grams in the worst, 

 1.1905 in the medium, and 1.6517 grams in the best organizations, a 

 difference of 0.5917 grams between the worst and the best. These 

 amounts of potassium chloride do not run exactly parallel to the phos- 

 phorus content of the three groups, there being a greater relative differ- 

 ence in the amounts of the former. The increase of the best over the 

 worst was 56.76 per cent in potassium chloride, but only 38.22 per cent 

 in P 2 5 . 



The amount of potassium required daily by man is variously estimated, 

 but is usually given as from 3 to 4 grams. While 3 grams of potassium 



s Bvll. Acad. Med. (1906). 56, 012. 



Nothnagel. Encyclopedia of Practical Medicine. 

 "' Herter. Chemical Pathology. 1 15. 

 "Am. Journ. Plnjs. (1909), 23, 240. 



