352 The Philippine Journal of Science i9i» 



from these organizations.' Shibayama,* however, states that 

 Japanese laborers, eating fresh unpolished rice, have developed 

 the disease ; and Strong and Crowell -' have observed mild sjinp- 

 toms of beriberi in men fed chiefly on Philippine red rice and also 

 on white rice with an added alcohol extract of the pohshings. 

 Schaumann,^" in the course of an extensive study, found that the 

 addition of dried egg white to maize fed to 3 rabbits did not 

 prevent the development of poljTieuritis. Eight doves receiving 

 rice, desiccated egg white, and sodium chloride died even before 

 the controls. Five doves were fed on boiled rice to which had 

 been added 1 per cent of a mixture made up of potassium 

 carbonate, 30 grams; sodium chloride, 3 grams; anhydrous so- 

 dium sulphate, 2 grams ; calcium carbonate, 3 grams ; magnesium 

 carbonate, 4 grams ; and iron oxide, 3 grams ; no protective action 

 was obtained. Grijns " had previously found that sodium or iron 

 carbonate and that Rohmann's ^- salt mixture were without effect 

 in beriberi. Schaumann also tried the effect of various com- 

 pounds containing phosphoric acid. Calcium phosphate, glycero- 

 phosphate, phytin from rice polishings and yeast nucleic acid, and 

 phosphatids were without, or had but slight, protective properties. 

 However, yeast, testicle, rice polishings, mongo beans, peas, and 

 bran prevent the development of polyneuritis. Schaumann con- 

 cluded that in as much as these substances are rich in phosphoric 

 acid the absence of some phosphorus-containing substance in the 

 diet is responsible for beriberi. Similar conclusions are reached 

 from the consideration of the composition of the diets of sailors 

 who were suffering from ship beriberi and from the analyses for 

 phosphates, sulphates, and urea in the twenty-four-hour urines 

 of these patients in the course of therapeutic feeding with the 

 above substances. In the experiments, Schaumann employed 

 doves, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, dogs, monkeys, and goats. 



Fraser and Stanton ^^ studied the relation of the phosphoric 

 acid content of rice to beriberi production for different rice 

 samples. Using fowls ^* which they found do not develop poly- 

 neuritis when fed on rough rice or on white rice to which the 



■ Chamberlain, This Journal, Sec. B (1911), 6, 133; Reiser, ibid. (1911), 

 229. 



'Ibid. (1910), 5, 122. 



' Loc. cit. 



"Beih. z. Arch. f. Schiffs- u. Trop.-Hyg. (1910), 14, 325. 



" Cited from Schaumann, loc. cit. 



"Allg. vied. Zentr.-Zeifg. (1903), No. 1; (1908), No. 9. 



" Studies from Institute for Medical Research. Federated Malay States 

 (1911), No. 12. 



"Eijkmann, Virchow's Arch. (1897), 148, 523. 



