The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-09-22

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this reason none of it was moldy:
and consequently the. flour made
from it vas wholesome, containing
no disease germs. Those who ate
it were safe from "pellagra."
Today, however, there is a very
different state of affairs. The South
has given up growing corn on any
extensive scale. and Is planting cot
ton instead. But the people of that
section are still eating as much corn
meal as ever, obtaining the product
from the North, where it is made In
great mills in Chicago, st. Louis,
Cincinnati and other cities, by ma
chinery. The ears are "shucked'
by machinery, which pays no atten-
ton to bad ones, and throws the
moldy grain in with the rest, to be
afterwards ground.
Formerly the corn used for MAX
ing meal in the South was never
kept ia big bulks. Today, on the
other hand, it is customarily handled
| in enormous bulks-600 bushels to
a car, and thousands Of bushels in
one bin. Under such conditions, es-
pecially if any moisture be present,
the mass is liable to "heat,' and
the fungus from the moldy grain
spreads with great rapidly. Thus
IS may be taken for granted that the
cornmeal which comes to market
nowadays is more or less liable to
be infected with fungus. No wonder
then, that in the States where corn
meal is a large item of the daily
diet a disease positively known to
arise from the eating of moldy corn
should have made its appearance,
1t is by no means to be supposed
that the fugi which attack corn are
all of them, or even most Of them,
dangerous. Presumably, they are,
as a rule, quite harmless. But
among them there must be some
species of a "pathogenic" character,
which produces the disease known
as pellagra. When sufferers from
the malady in its early stages are
deprived of corn, and fed on other
grain, the symptoms disappear.
Summed up, the symptoms com
prise progressive emaciation, brittle
ness of the bones, fatty degeneration
Of the internal organs ESPECIALLY
the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen and
lungs), Inflammation Of the brain
and spinal cord, nervous troubles
and the frightful affection of the
skin already mentioned.
These conditions become progress.
sively worse. There are evidences oil
mental weakness, with great depres.
sion of spirit. Children are sad Of
face and look like old men or wo.
men. Young women rapidly take on
the aspect Of ancients. Emaciation
sets in, with increased physical
weakness. The skin becomes red
with sensations of burning and itch.
ing, and usually some puffiness
Blisters appear, scattered over the
surface; the spidermis dries and
falls in grayish scales. Later on the
skin becomes thickened and of a dir,
ty yellow or yellowish-green color
hard and rough, with painful cracks
and crusts, or even alterations
Finally, it becomes parchment-like,
with entire loss of elasticity.
The condition, in a word, 80 far
as this feature of the complaint is
concerned, Is what a layman would
describe as leprous. 1t is not lepro-
sy, however. A suggestion has been
made to the effect that the leprosy
described in the Bible was actually
pellagra, but there is no reason for
such a theory. Undoubtedly pe,la-
gra is a modern disease, corn having
been unknown in ancient times.
Maize, of course, is Of American
origin, and it is safe to say that
the Indians, who were large users
Of corn meal long before the days
! of Columbus did not use moldy grain
in its manufacture.
In the later stages of the malady,
sufferers become either partly i'm
beetle or deranged. Sometimes they
entertain delusions of persecution or
of religion. Melancholia leads to
dementia, and they try to commit
suicide. or in some instances exhibit
a homicidal tendency. Not infre-
quently they refuse food. Their
heads tremble and their gait is para
lytic. Last scene of all is a combi-
nation of starvation, helplessness,
heart weakness, dropsy and delirium,
ending in death. Occasionally blood
poisoning, or even galloping con-
sumption of the lungs, sets in at the
close.
Pictures have been sent to DR..
Ellie Metchnikof, the famous Rus
sian scientist who is now studying
it. 1t is also under investigation
at John Hopkins University in Bal
timore. Such is pellagra-certainly
n Of the most frightful physical
Affections known to mankind.