﻿120 The Philippine Journal of Science leu 



There is, however, evidence to show that the use of unpolished 

 rice will not absolutely prevent beriberi in man. Thus Strong 

 and Crowell,® in reporting their experiments on Bilibid prisoners, 

 say: 



In Group III, where the diet consisted largely of red rice, only 1 (No. 13) 

 of the 6 developed rather marked symptoms of beriberi, while 1 (No. 18) 

 developed only slight cardiac symptoms. In Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 17 no 

 symptoms at all of the disease developed. In No. 13 the most striking 

 symptoms suggestive of beriberi were pain and tenderness in the epigas- 

 trium, symptoms suggesting parsesthesia, epigastric pulsation, cardiac dis- 

 turbances and dyspncea, and marked diminution and almost disappearance 

 of the knee jerks, so that it was very difficult or impossible at times to elicit 

 them. The condition of this individual, at the time that his diet was 

 changed, certainly led one to believe that had the diet been persisted with, 

 a well-marked case of beriberi would have developed. 



Again Shibayama '" states: 



Experiments * * * were carried out in coal mines where the miners 

 had been yearly affected most severely and in a fishing village where the 

 inhabitants had also suffered severely. In both places the inhabitants were 

 divided into groups consisting of a certain number of persons (usually 100) ; 

 during the beriberi season (seven months fi'om the beginning of April to 

 the end of October) one group was provided with cured rice," another with 

 the mixed diet consisting of rice and barley, while a third was given white 

 rice as a control, the object being to determine which group provided the 

 largest number of patients. * * * xhe experiment was carried out 

 twice in each place, and showed that neither the cured rice nor the mixed 

 diet of rice and barley is able absolutely to prevent the disease, though they 

 seem to play some part. 



While considerable success has obtained in the treatment of 

 infantile beriberi with rice polishings or with extracts of the 

 bran,^- cases in adult patients are apparently more resistant. 

 Vedder and Williams '* report 3 adult cases, and they believe 

 that the administration of their preparation of extract of the 

 rice polishings — 



is capable of dissipating the dropsy in cases of wet beriberi and of promptly 

 relieving the attacks of cardiac insufficiency, but that this extract is in- 

 capable of curing the paralysis in cases of so-called dry beriberi. 



• This Journal, Sec. B (1912), 7, 404. 



'"Journ. Trop. Med. & Hyg. (1913), 16, 284. 



" "Before the exact origin and method of preparing rice capable of caus- 

 ing beriberi was known, it was termed 'uncured,' while that which did not 

 produce the disease was called 'cured' rice." [Aron, This Journal, Sec. B 

 (1910), 5, 82.] Evidently red or unpolished rice is meant in this case. 

 [Footnote 11 is ours. — R. B. G.] 



"Gabriel, Revista Filipina (1911), 2, 441; Chamberlain and Vedder, 

 Bull. Manila Med. Soc. (1912), 4, 26. 



" This Journal, Sec. B (1913), 8, 175. 



