X, B, 5 Wiliams and Johnston: Notes on Beribert 3438 
By injection of these cultures he was able to reproduce in fowls 
a disease which appeared to be typical polyneuritis. He reported 
the transmission of the disease by this means in a large per- 
centage of cases. 
We have repeated McCarrison’s experiments without being 
able to verify any of his essential findings. 
Ten fowls with polyneuritis gallinarum were examined by us, 
and cultures from the heart blood, spleen, liver, and kidneys 
remained sterile in each case except one, and in this case we 
obtained a small Gram-negative bacillus with a tendency toward 
bipolar staining. There was no tendency to gas production 
in mannite, glucose, or galactose, and but slight acidity. Rabbits 
inoculated intravenously with 1 cubic centimenter of a suspen- 
sion of a 24-hour growth on agar died in from fourteen to 
twenty hours. Five. tenths of a cubic centimeter of a similar _ 
suspension produced no results. Eight fowls inoculated intra- 
muscularly with 0.5 cubic centimeter of a similar suspension 
showed no effects, except that a slight wing drop ensued in one, 
probably the result of manipulation, as it was noticeable only 
on one side. 
Cultures of the milk of 4 beriberic women were examined 
with negative results. 
