x,B,2 Williams and Crowell: Thymus Gland in Beriberi 125 
days of treatment, and the patients at the close of the treatment 
still showed the characteristic symptoms of the disease, although 
in a less distressing form. Inasmuch as it was not practicable 
to place these cases in a hospital for accurate observation during 
treatment, the results are of more or less doubtful value, but are 
given here for what they may be worth. The dose used was 
0.3 gram of dried sheep’s thymus six times daily. No change 
was made in the diet of the patients. 
CONCLUSIONS 
The experimental evidence indicates that (1) there is no 
apparent fundamental connection between beriberi and the atro- 
phy of the thymus; (2) when the latter occurs in birds fed 
on polished rice, as it frequently does, it is due to some other 
cause; (3) the thymus gland contains no extraordinary amount 
of vitamine, and the protective effect of administering the tissue 
is probably largely due to purine and pyrimidine derivatives; 
(4) the presence of a comparatively large amount of thymus 
gland in young animals does not appear to be responsible for 
their modified susceptibility to beriberi. 
We feel that the experimental evidence presented by Funk 
and Douglas is far too meager to warrant any positive conclu- 
sions, much less forming any useful theory regarding the role 
of the vitamines in the body. 
TABLE II —Thymus-feeding experiments. 

Time Loss in weight. 
| re- d 
Addition to daily diet of 50 grams | 242° | Length 
OG ANS: of white rice. tore: Baca’ 
if Total. | Daily. 
neu- 
ritis. 

Days. | Days. | Per ct. | Per ct. 

Dee aes Reh ee = Os mpeet hyn Ss) = ee 34 37 28.5} 0.77 
CF) ae a ee es (6 Ko), Se ee OE ee 32 37 BEET I OEEh 
OAD) ay Bo Se ee. ae + 1.5 gm. thymus gland__________ 45 46 20.8) 0.57 
OPE Rs Sek BN soe eee Pee (6 (0) gee Ree eee a eg 52 58 20 0.66 
SOP Ws cae Cie se UO Sas ee ie Oi fades isoppoaisy elev! 25 29 31.9 | 1.57 


AV era revot G:cOntrol sere. Cte e kale = aaa ep a ea 17.5 21 26.9 1.41 




O89 pees aa en ae a cee ese eee OO owes see eee tees eS os Ho 35 27.5 | 1.25 
Bieter oe Ue eee SU ae PATO ARON Geno ees | 38 43 36.6 | 0.85 

