470 ^^^ Philippine Journal of Science ms 



so far as proteid, fat, and carbohydrate are concerned ; however, 

 the amounts of phosphate and calcium are increased, the latter 

 from three to four times the normal. The increased calcium, 

 in itself, ought to be the cause of the early cessation of the 

 heart's action in Guerrero's experiments. 



Vedder and Clark * have reported experiments with normal 

 cows' milk. Fowls fed on polished rice and receiving in addition 

 5 cubic centimeters of canned milk received little or no protection 

 against polyneuritis gallinarum. With 5 cubic centimeters of 

 fresh cows' milk, they received partial protection as indicated 

 by the prolongation of the "incubation" period. It is to be ex- 

 pected that sterilized milk would not be as efficient as fresh 

 cow's milk, in as much as Fraser and Stanton ^ have found that 

 the protective vitamine may be destroyed by autoclaving. 



The milk used in the present experiments was obtained from 

 the obstetrical ward of the Philippine General Hospital. It was 

 not obtained until three days after parturition. The women 

 usually enter the ward previous to labor. They were, therefore, 

 for several days on the diet given below before the milk was 

 collected. The breasts were milked by hand into a sterile flask, 

 mixed samples being obtained daily. 



The diet was as follows: 



Breakfast. Two eggs, 2 slices of bread, coffee, milk, and sugar. 

 Lunch and dinner. Fish or stewed beef, unpolished rice, cooked vegetables, 

 pudding or banana, tea, and milk. 



It was planned in the present experiments to feed 4 groups of 

 3 fowls each on (1) 50 grams of polished rice and 5 cubic centi- 

 meters of human milk, (2) 50 grams of polished rice and 10 

 cubic centimeters of human milk, (3) 50 grams of polished rice 

 and 20 cubic centimeters of human milk, and (4) 50 grams 

 of polished rice alone, per day. On some. days it was impossible 

 to get any milk because of the lack of suitable patients in the 

 ward, and on other days it was necessary to cut down or omit 

 the milk ration for one or more of the fowls receiving 20 cubic 

 centimeters per day. Fortunately, the milk was obtained in 

 abundance from the twenty-seventh to the fortieth day, inclusive, 

 of the experiment. On the fortieth day 1 fowl (8) receiving 

 20 cubic centimeters of milk came down with mild though typical 

 neuritis, the experiment indicating conclusively that the admin- 

 istration of 20 cubic centimeters of human milk with the polished 



' This Journal, Sec. B (1912), 7, 423. 



' Studies from Institute for Medical Research. Federated Malay States 

 (1911), No. 12. 



