184 The Philippine Journal of Science ms 



Group d: Four fowls receiving filtrate remaining from the 

 above double precipitation. All 4 fowls remained well for sixty 

 days. 



The experiment was discontinued after sixty days because the 

 solutions prepared were exhausted. 



Group a in this experiment simply served as a control, showing 

 that the alcoholic solution of the total phosphotungstates sufficed 

 to confer protection in the amount used. But groups h, c, and d 

 all contained substances that differed from each other chemically. 

 Group c, which contained Funk's base, might be supposed to 

 confer protection, as it did; but group h, containing purine 

 bases which have in the past been supposed to be devoid of 

 protective action, and group d, presumably containing choline 

 and other similar bases, also both conferred protection. The 

 protection conferred in group h was not complete, it is true; 

 but we have reason to believe, from the fact that the second 

 bird to be affected by neuritis improved when larger doses were 

 given, that the amount of protection is simply a question of the 

 size of the dose of these purines given. If these purines had 

 been fed to these fowls in large amounts from the first, complete 

 protection might have been secured. 



It is important to note that, of these three groups of sub- 

 stances which conferred protection, only one was promptly 

 curative; namely, group c, which contained Funk's base. The 

 substances in the other two groups were tried repeatedly on 

 fowls suffering from polyneuritis and absolutely failed to pro- 

 duce prompt recovery from the paralyses, although the lives 

 of the birds appeared to be prolonged by this treatment. 



Therefore, we have evidence that there is in our extract of 

 rice polishings: 



(1) A substance (Funk's base) which, used in sufficient 

 doses, will both protect fowls from developing polyneuritis and 

 promptly cure fowls that have already developed the disease. 



(2) Two other groups of substances which will protect fowls 

 from developing polyneuritis, but which are incapable of 

 promptly curing fowls already suffering from the disease. The 

 latter groups of substances, therefore, have entirely escaped 

 previous discovery, because all the other investigators who have 

 so far attempted to isolate these vitamines have relied exclu- 

 sively upon curative experiments. Therefore, it appears certain 

 that there are several groups of chemical substances that are 

 capable of protecting fowls against polyneuritis gallinarum. 

 Unfortunately we are unable at this time to state positively 

 that these substances do not contain Funk's base. For it is 



