VIII. B, 5 Gibson: Salt Mixtures and Beriberi, 365 



under normal circumstances of life such conditions do not obtain 

 tor the individual except in the early stages of its development. 

 Accessory factors must play a role of extreme importance in 

 normal dietaries, as shown by Hopkins *° v^ho found that a given 

 increment of growth in young rats is attained with much greater 

 economy when a ration of milk is added to the artificial mixture 

 of casein, carbohydrate, lard, and salts. The feeding experi- 

 ments which I have carried on again emphasize the existence of 

 such accessory factors for normal nutrition. 



Since this paper was written, Clark has made a study of the so- 

 called "embryonic nerve fiber." The results are in part based on 

 the examination of the nerves of the "calcium lactate" fowls and 

 a full description of these nerves will be given in Clark's paper. 

 He concludes that the "embryonic nerve fiber" is a stage of 

 advanced degeneration rather than a regenerative phenomenon. 



I have shown that the calcium lactate has prolonged the onset 

 of symptoms of the polyneuritis. Clark believes that the longer 

 course of the disease has permitted degeneration to occur in 

 certain fibers of the sciatic to a degree much more intense than 

 has hitherto been observed for fowls fed on rice alone; for 

 instance, a degeneration of the type observed after a nerve is cut. 

 The ordinary rice neuritis, then, must be of a relatively mild 

 type, as is further evidenced by the rapid recovery, often in two 

 or three hours (Funk), subsequent to the administration of the 

 "vitamine" preparations. 



'" Journ. Physiol. (1912), 44, 425. 



120824 3 



