180 The Philippine Journal of Science wis 



sential accuracy we could not doubt, was therefore apparently 

 contradictory to our own results. After receiving Funk's 

 papers, we repeated the feeding experiment several times, using 

 Funk's method on our extract as we had always prepared it. 

 In each case the result was a failure, for the fowls developed 

 neuritis, both in the group receiving the filtrate from phos- 

 photungstic acid and in the group receiving the decomposed 

 phosphotungstates. 



Being convinced that Funk's work was correct, and that our 

 previous work was also correct, it became certain that, if an 

 adequate explanation of this apparent discrepancy could be 

 afforded, further progress would be made. This explanation 

 we are now prepared to make. Funk (8) tried only curative 

 experiments, while we were relying on feeding experiments. 

 Further, Funk had extracted his rice polishings with alcohol 

 containing 2.5 per cent of gaseous hydrochloric acid, while the 

 preparation with which we worked was extracted by alcohol 

 alone. These differences in method which may appear trifling 

 are in reality crucial. 



The therapeutic action of these two extracts is totally 

 different. Funk reported that large doses of his extract were 

 poisonous, but that, if doses small enough to avoid this poisonous 

 action were administered to pigeons that had developed poly- 

 neuritis as a result of rice feeding, the birds were immediately 

 cured. Our extract, on the other hand, was never poisonous, 

 although given in enormous doses, equivalent to several kilo- 

 grams of polishings ; nor did it produce an immediate cure when 

 given to birds that had already developed polyneuritis; but if 

 the birds were given small doses of this extract daily (equiva- 

 lent to 10 grams of polishings) , their lives were saved, although 

 they remained paralyzed. Further, if the administration of 

 our extract was continued for several months, the paralysis also 

 was thereby cured. Funk's extract was therefore poisonous, 

 but smaller doses promptly cured the paralytic symptoms, while 

 our extract was nonpoisonous and only slowly curative. It 

 appeared probable that this difference in therapeutic action 

 resulted from the fact that Funk used hydrochloric acid in the 

 preparation of his extract while we did not. In order to test 

 this hypothesis, the following experiment was performed. 



Experiment A3. — A quantity of our extract was divided into 

 two portions. One part was untreated and the other part was 

 mixed with 5 per cent hydrochloric acid and allowed to stand at 

 room temperature for twenty-four hours. 



