﻿IX, B, 1 



Gibson and Concepcion: Nerve Degeneration 



121 



They believe that Funk's base, administered in 2 doses each 

 prepared from 10 kilograms of rice polishings, "greatly relieved, 

 if not cured" the paralysis in one case. These investigators 

 believe that the large amount of material necessary to yield any 

 appreciable amount of the protective substances is due to the 

 fact that there is considerable loss in the chemical manipulation 

 in the course of isolation. We understand that the treatment of 

 beriberi cases in the Philippine General Hospital with rice polish- 

 ings or preparations of the rice bran is not followed by the 

 uniformly satisfactory results which should be expected from the 

 theoretical view of the etiology of beriberi. 



From the evidence presented, then, there are cases in which 

 beriberi apparently has developed, even though unpolished rice 

 is the chief constituent of the dietary. Furthermore, the 

 therapeutic use of the rice bran or extracts and preparations 

 of this has not given the specific results for man which we have 

 expected from theoretical considerations of the etiology of the 

 disease, although the mortality has been greatly reduced.^^ It 

 seems to us that the facts can only be interpreted in one way. 

 The unpolished rice, per se, affords only partial protection against 

 beriberi. In other words, the rough rice does not contain in 

 the cortex the protective substance in sufficient amounts to 

 prevent the development of beriberi in the more susceptible 

 individuals. Experimental evidence for this conclusion is given 

 in the following experiment. 



Six fowls were fed on palay, 3 for two months, 2 for three 

 months, and 1 for four months. They developed no symptoms 

 of neuritis. The sciatic nerves, when stained by the Marchi 

 method, however, show distinct degenerative changes in every 

 case. The results are summed up in Table I. 



Table I. — Fowls fed on palay. 



No. 



Period. 



Degeneration. 



1(31) 

 2 (32) 



3(33) 

 4(30) 

 6(34) 

 6(29) 



Months. 

 2 

 2 



2 

 3 

 3 

 4 



+ + + Fairly pronounced. 



+ Mild type; distinct lineation of myelin with few degen- 

 erated areas. 

 + + Distinct degeneration. 

 -r + + + Very pronounced degeneration. 

 + + H + Very pronounced degeneration. 

 + + Distinct degeneration. 



" Braddon, Journ. Trap. Med. & Hyg. (1913), 18, 282. 



