Was It Beri-beri?

Abstract

New York, Jan. 10, 1903. <h3>To the Editor:</h3> —For the information of Dr. Frank Fenwick Young, whose interesting experiences with "Beri-beri in Louisiana" you have published inThe Journal, kindly print the fact that beri-beri has been found on ships reaching this port, all with carbon-producing cargoes (sugar, graphite, burnt Java coffee, etc.), whose crews had as their dietary<i>no rice at all</i>for the entire voyage. Dr. Judson Daland also found such an outbreak of beri-beri, on a sugar ship, too, which reached Philadelphia, whose crew were Lascars; that is, pork eaters. In an interesting investigation which I made many years ago with Col. John Screven of Savannah, Ga., the largest rice grower in the world, we found no beri-beri in those connected with the culture of rice, but plenty of malarial rheumatism (multiple neuritis, perhaps,) in those who did not take proper precautions while cultivating the flooded grounds.