CONCERNING THE BERIBERI-PREVENTING SUBSTANCES OR 

 VITAMINES CONTAINED IN RICE POLISHINGS 



A SIXTH CONTRIBUTION TO THE ETIOLOGY OF BERIBERI ^ 



By Edwakd B. Vedder' and Robert R. Williams 



(From the United States Army Tropical Board and the Laboratory of 

 Organic Chemistry, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 



It has been claimed at various times that beriberi has resulted 

 from the use of an undermilled rice which had been stored for 

 some time or which had been kept in a damp place. Thus 

 Braddock(l) says: 



I have had an extensive experience with beriberi, and never saw it 

 except when the rice used for food had been stored in a damp place; 

 when care was taken to store the rice in a dry place, there was no beriberi. 



An interesting case was reported by Breaudat,(2) where 

 there were two neighboring settlements. In the first the rice 

 was always polished by hand daily, and not a single case of 

 beriberi has ever been reported. In the second settlement the 

 rice was polished every ten or twelve days and stored in wooden 

 boxes, and beriberi occurred every season with an incidence of 

 from 60 to 90 cases. He advised the manager to use rice pol- 

 ished by hand daily, and not a single case occurred after that 

 procedure was adopted. Breaudat says: "Therefore I come to 

 the conclusion that even hand-polished rice, if 10 or 12 days old, 

 may produce Beriberi." These statements cast grave doubts on 

 the protective value of stored rice, particularly as it is well 

 known that the protective substances in rice polishings are 

 readily destroyed by certain agencies; for example, moist heat 

 and strong alkalies. 



In view of the practical importance of this question, an experi- 

 ment was performed to test the keeping qualities of undermilled 

 rice. 



Experiment 38. — A sack of the undermilled rice furnished the 

 Philippine Scouts was obtained from the commissary. This rice 



' Read before the Manila Medical Society, April 7, 1913, and published 

 with the permission of the Chief Surgeon, Philippine Department. 



' Edward B. Vedder, captain, Medical Corps, United States Army, mem- 

 ber of the United States Army Board for the Study of Tropical Diseases 

 as they Exist in the Philippine Islands. 



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