MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ' AND COMMENTS ON BERIBERI? 
By RosBert R. WILLIAMS and JOHN A. JOHNSTON 
(From the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry and the Biological Laboratory, 
Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I.) 
It is a matter of common belief among physicians who have 
had practical experience with beriberi that the incidence of the 
disease is highest, other things being equal, among those upon 
whose metabolic processes the greatest demands are made. 
Thus it has been generally observed that women during the 
period of the puerperium are very subject to beriberi even 
though the other members of the same household, other than ~ 
the children of the beriberic mother, do not betray the slightest 
symptoms of the disease. At various times mention has been 
made of a high incidence of beriberi among those performing 
unusually hard manual labor, such as firemen on board ship. 
The effect of heat and physical exercise upon the onset of 
polyneuritis in fowls was tested in the following experiments: 
Four fowls were fed on polished rice under ordinary condi- 
tions; 4 were fed on unhusked rice (palay) under the same con- 
ditions; 4 were fed on white rice and given from ten to twenty 
minutes exercise twice daily in a treadmill moving at a rate of 
about 25 meters per minute; 4 were fed on palay and given 
the same exercise; 4 were fed on white rice in cages in which the 
air temperature was maintained at from 37° to 38° C.; 2 were 
fed on palay in cages kept at the same temperature; and 2 
were fed on white rice and kept in cages in which the air tem- 
perature was maintained at 15°. 
The results indicate that high temperatures and physical work 
slightly hasten the onset of the disease. They are more inter- 
esting as illustrations of the general inadequacy of a white rice 
diet, since birds fed on white rice succumbed under these con- 
ditions even before definite symptoms of polyneuritis had time 
to develop. 
*These notes have been collected at the close of an extended period of 
investigation of beriberi, although much of the experimentation is incom- 
plete. The results and comments are, therefore, offered only as sug- 
gestions. 
* Received for publication April 23, 1915. 
BaT 
