138 DISCUSSION. 



bad separate rooms, but they all ate the same food. Until December 

 25 none of these assistants went to Singapore. We allowed very little 

 visiting, but permitted them to go once a month for a period of twenty- 

 four hours. On December 25 this new man had 2-1 hours' leave and 

 went to Singapore, but he returned the following morning. On January 

 5 this man complained of shortness of breath. I found him suffering 

 from constriction of the chest ; the following day his legs developed 

 signs of weakness, on the seventh day he was very weak and on 

 the eighth day he could no longer stand.. I inquired concerning him on 

 March 4 in order to discover what he had eaten during the twenty-four 

 hours when he was in Singapore. I' found that he had eaten two meals. 

 I 'visited the house where he had eaten and found no beriberi there. 



I bring this case to your attention so as to turn the latter on the 

 possible origin of beriberi in this instance. There would seem to have 

 been a short incubation period. 



Dr. J. de Kami, director of the Government Medical Laboratory at 

 Weltevreden, delegate from Her Majesty's Government of the Nether- 

 lands Indies. — Can Doctor Aron explain, by his view of the extraction 

 of phytin, why the curative effect of katjang idjo is lost when the beans 

 are heated to 120° ? 



Dr. Aldo GaMellani, professor of tropical medicine and lecturer on 

 dermatology, Ceylon Medical College, Colombo, delegate from the Govern- 

 ment of Ceylon. — It was with great pleasure that I listened to these 

 papers and to their discussion. I have always- been strongly of the opinion 

 that this matter should for the greater part be left to those who have 

 especially worked with it; I have a certain amount of clinical experience 

 with the disease ; but have never undertaken any experimental work on it. 

 The investigations of Doctors Fraser, Aron, and Kilbourne are, to my 

 mind, the most convincing of all that I am aware of. In fact, I think 

 that the supporters of the old theory of beriberi are in a very poor position ; 

 but I do not believe that the rice theory alone holds. I certainly agree 

 with Doctor Aron that an insufficiently nutritrious diet may produce 

 general debility, but may it not be that white rice and the general debility 

 caused by its excessive consumption may render the individual more 

 liable to be infected by the specific parasite causing beriberi? It seems 

 to me that the rice theory does not explain the occurrence of the disease 

 in some tropical countries and its absence in others. In Ceylon there are 

 half a million Indian coolies who eat the same rice as those in India. 

 In fact, the rice for our coolies is for the greater part imported from 

 India; still, not a single case of beriberi has occurred in Ceylon. 



In conclusion, I would ask to be allowed to express my admiration of _ 

 the great work of Doctors Aron, Fraser, and Kilbourne. 



Dr. Hans Aron, associate professor of physiology, Philippine Medical 

 School. — In reply to Doctor de Haan's question, I will state that, in my 



