The relation between disease and faulty diet was first brought
to the attention of scientists about the year 1880, by the experience
of the Japanese navy. The prominent place of rice in the diet of
those who suffered of beriberi, led to a belief that it was a causa-
tive factor in the disease. In 1897, Eijkman took up the study of
nutrition, demonstrating by experiment the fact that when pigeons
were fed exclusively upon polished rice, they began to suffer of a
nervous disorder, staggered, lost their power to stand up, or even
to swallow food, and finally died. In other words, the pigeons
developed a state of polyneuritis (inflammation of many nerves —
Borland), which is analogous to beriberi in man. He found, more-
over, that when the pigeons were fed on the entire kernel, the
disease did not develop.
In 1911, Dr. Casimir Funk took up the study of beriberi, and
made an effort to isolate this singular yet unidentified substance
contained in rice polishings, and also to determine what other foods
contain it, and what influence it has on the health. He called this
mysterious but absolutely indispensable substance "vitamine." The
results observed among his birds when they were restricted to
16
milled rice and water were identical with those reported by Eijk-
man. He found that when the coatings that had been removed
from the rice were soaked in water, and a little of this fluid was
passed through a tube into each sick bird's crop, or, if the birds had
not reached the stage where they could not swallow, a portion of
the rice polishings was fed to them, in a few hours they made
rapid recovery, and before the day was over they were apparently
as well as ever.1 It seemed like a veritable miracle. Evidently the
Creator has placed in the covering of the rice something that is
absolutely essential to life, and that the rest of the grain can-
not supply.
Funk demonstrated, furthermore, that when fowls were fed on
steel roller process white flour, in three or four weeks they were
afflicted just as when they were fed on polished rice. That is, he
discovered that the vitamines are in the outer layers in wheat, just
as they are in rice. These experiments clearly proved that there
is required in the diet something more than protein, carbohydrate,
fat, and mineral salts.
In 1914, W. Richard Ohler, M. D.,2 carried out a number of
experiments with chickens, in order to furnish experimental proof
for the contention that a more or less exclusive diet of white
bread was the chief cause of beriberi in Newfoundland. Fourteen
chickens fed on white flour bread, with or without yeast, died
within twenty-eight to forty days. Before death, the birds ex-
hibited symptoms of polyneuritis, and histological examination of
the peripheral nerves revealed considerable degeneration. Five
chickens fed on whole wheat bread, and two on whole wheat, lived
in perfect health for seventy-five days, when the experiment was
discontinued.
1 These experiments were recently duplicated in the chemistry laboratory of the Col-
lege of Medical Evangelists, by Dr. E. H. Risley, teacher of chemistry, with similar results,
thus verifying the fact.
Page 6
Presented as published in 1921. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The relation between disease and faulty diet was first brought to the attention of scientists about the year 1880, by the experience of the Japanese navy. The prominent place of rice in the diet of those who suffered of beriberi, led to a belief that it was a causative factor in the disease. In 1897, Eijkman took up the study of nutrition, demonstrating by experiment the fact that when pigeons were fed exclusively upon polished rice, they began to suffer of a nervous disorder, staggered, lost their power to stand up, or even to swallow food, and finally died. In other words, the pigeons developed a state of polyneuritis (inflammation of many nerves — Borland), which is analogous to beriberi in man. He found, moreover, that when the pigeons were fed on the entire kernel, the disease did not develop.
In 1911, Dr. Casimir Funk took up the study of beriberi, and made an effort to isolate this singular yet unidentified substance contained in rice polishings, and also to determine what other foods contain it, and what influence it has on the health. He called this mysterious but absolutely indispensable substance "vitamine." The results observed among his birds when they were restricted to
milled rice and water were identical with those reported by Eijkman. He found that when the coatings that had been removed from the rice were soaked in water, and a little of this fluid was passed through a tube into each sick bird's crop, or, if the birds had not reached the stage where they could not swallow, a portion of the rice polishings was fed to them, in a few hours they made rapid recovery, and before the day was over they were apparently as well as ever.1 It seemed like a veritable miracle. Evidently the Creator has placed in the covering of the rice something that is absolutely essential to life, and that the rest of the grain cannot supply.
Funk demonstrated, furthermore, that when fowls were fed on steel roller process white flour, in three or four weeks they were afflicted just as when they were fed on polished rice. That is, he discovered that the vitamines are in the outer layers in wheat, just as they are in rice. These experiments clearly proved that there is required in the diet something more than protein, carbohydrate, fat, and mineral salts.
In 1914, W. Richard Ohler, M. D.,2 carried out a number of experiments with chickens, in order to furnish experimental proof for the contention that a more or less exclusive diet of white bread was the chief cause of beriberi in Newfoundland. Fourteen chickens fed on white flour bread, with or without yeast, died within twenty-eight to forty days. Before death, the birds exhibited symptoms of polyneuritis, and histological examination of the peripheral nerves revealed considerable degeneration. Five chickens fed on whole wheat bread, and two on whole wheat, lived in perfect health for seventy-five days, when the experiment was discontinued.
1 These experiments were recently duplicated in the chemistry laboratory of the College of Medical Evangelists, by Dr. E. H. Risley, teacher of chemistry, with similar results, thus verifying the fact.