Beri-beri is a disease that is described clinically as a form of severe peripheral neuritis and may appear in two well marked forms. In one type there is great wasting, anesthesia of the skin and finally paralysis of the limbs. In the other, the most marked symptom is excessive edema which may affect trunk, limbs and extremities. In severe cases the heart is usually involved and death may occur suddenly from heart failure. Most observers assume that the antineuritic vitamine discovered by Funk and the water-soluble "B" are identical. This view is based on the fact that when sources which yield the water-soluble "B" in rat feeding are tested for antineuritic power these sources are apparently parallel in antineuritic power and growth production. Furthermore rats deprived of the water-soluble "B" develop polyneuroses identical in symptoms with those shown by rats and pigeons when the latter are placed on a polished rice diet. The British Medical Board has compiled the following table to support this view: _Table compiled from pages 35 and 86, British Medical Research Committee Report_ _______________________________________________________________________ | | | | VALUE AS A SOURCE OF | VALUE AS A SOURCE OF | THE ANTINEURETIC | WATER-SOLUBLE "B" | FACTOR OR ANTI-BERI- FOODSTUFF | (SHOWN BY EXPERI- | BERI FACTOR (SHOWN | MENTS WITH RATS) | BY EXPERIMENTS | | WITH BIRDS) _________________________|______________________|_______________________ | | Rice germ . . . . . . . | +++ | ++++ Wheat germ . . . . . . . | +++ | +++ Yeast . . . . . . . . . | +++ | +++ Egg yolk . . . . . . . . | ++ | +++ Ox liver . . . . . . . . | ++ | +++ Wheat bran . . . . . . . | + | ++ Meat muscle . . . . . . | + | + Milk . . . . . . . . . . | +++ | Slight Potatoes . . . . . . . . | + | + Meat extract . . . . . . | 0 | 0 White bread or flour . . | 0 | 0 Polished rice . . . . . | 0 | 0 _________________________|______________________|_______________________ _________________________________________________________________________ | | BEHAVIOR | WATER-SOLUBLE "B" | ANTINEURITIC VITAMINE ______________________|________________________|_________________________ | | Solubility in water . | Very soluble | Very soluble