356 



The Philippine Journal of Science 



191.? 



to be regarded as "complete," although the presence of trypto- 

 phane was not determined. However, I have prepared some 

 oryzenin, and found that it gives the Hopkins-Cole reaction. 

 Karl Thomas -^ claims to have shown, too, that the rice proteins 

 have over four-fifths the nutritive efficience of casein. 



Analyses of polished rice show a varying ash content of from 

 about 0.45 to 1 per cent, although proportionally the mineral 

 ingredients are fairly constant."* For comparison with Osborne 

 and Mendel's experiments, I have calculated the inorganic con- 

 stituents per kilogram of rice as follows : 



Table I. — Salts per kilogram of food. 



Constituent. 



Osborne 

 and 



Mendel's 

 experi- 

 ments. 



Rice I. 



Rice II. 



Grams. 



»1.03 

 0.20 

 0.74 

 0.33 



1.82 



6.68 



0.09 



0.066 



0.11 



Ash 



Grams. 



Grams. 

 "0.45 

 0.12 

 0.30 

 0.18 

 0.80 

 3.20 

 0.004 

 0.03 

 0.04 



Ca.. 



5.9 

 0.7 

 6.1 

 8.0 

 10.0 

 12.4 

 0.9 

 0.13 

 10.0 

 0.0 



Mg 



Na 



K 



P04 



CI 



S04 



Fe 



Citric acid 



Si0 2. — - 



0.12 



0.64 



' Per cent. 



Most striking differences are observed. The rice is deficient 

 in calcium, and there is, relative to the element, a much greater 

 proportion of magnesium. Sodium and potassium chloride are 

 low. The total amount of the mineral constituents is low. The 

 salts certainly seem far from being properly balanced to main- 

 tain normal physiological activity over relatively long periods 

 of time. The presumable absence of mineral salts of the organic 

 acids, in the white rice, might be considered as a contributing 

 factor to the development of beriberi; particularly is this point 

 significant for polyneuritis gallinarum, since the end product of 

 nitrogenous katabolism, uric acid, is eliminated as the urate. In 

 as much as certain salts of the organic acids are soluble in al- 

 cohol, part of the protective effects of the alcoholic extracts of 



"Arch. f. Anat. n. Physiol. (1909), 219. 



" Kellner, Uchiyama, and Yamada, Die landw. Versuchsstationnen (1892), 

 41, 295. 



