Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-08-31
aliseellansuus 8eading.
PELLAeRA AND ITS CAUSE.
WelI Known Charlotte Physician Tells
About the Disease.

FGLLHShA AMI 10 SNSSIs
Well Known Charlotte Physician Tells
About the Disease.
Pellagra, the new disease which ap-
pears to be quite prevalent In the
south, is exciting intense interest
among those Of the medical fraternity
who are inclined to original investi-
CATION. One of the latter is DR.. w. T.
Woodley Of this city, who has advanc-
ed the belief that pellagra is due to
the eating of products made from
corn that is shock cured. Yesterday g
issue of the Atlanta Georgian contain
ed the following:
Corn has been one Of the staple
food crops Of the human family too
long to warrant the hasty assumption
that the ravages of the malignant new
disease to which physicians have given
the name Of pellagra are due to any
inherent causes within the grain It
self.
nate abuse which this member Of the
vegetable kingdom is getting nova
days there is absolutely no justifica-
tion.
Such hasty judgment fails to take
note Of the fact that from time i'm
memorial corn has furnished susie
nance both to civilized and to savage
man.
$50 long as the simpler processes
for curing corn were in vogue no one
ever heard Of this new entry into the
list of maladies.
Consequently we must look else
where for the seat Of the trouble.
Or. WoodIey's Views.
'Dr. william T. Woodley Of Char
lotte, N. c., seems to have reached
the correct conclusion. He attributes
the rise Of this new disorder to the
use of corn which has been shock
cured. He says that before 1t is Civ
en- time to dry it is husked and mar
keted, whereas go days longer should
be allowed to corn in the shock than
to corn in the field.
In view Of the fact that the corn
season is much shorter in the north
than in the south, he says that the
farmers hurry to clear the fields be-
fore winter.
"As a means Of precaution he sug-
gests that the mills be required to use
only corn which has been cured un-
der supervision.
And since the amount Of corn
ground for human food is small In
comparison with the annual yield, this
requirement will entail no very great
hardship-but cost what 1t may, 1t
must be done.
"The inference that this new cpl
demic is to be attributed to the steam
rolling mills is entirely without sup
port.
From the layman's point Of view
DR.. Woodley appears to have found
both the cause and the remedy for
pellagra; and recent fatalities make It
urgent that the prudent safeguards
which he suggests be adopted"
Stock Feeding.
OF paramount concern also Is the
article reproduced herewith from the
Breeders Gazette, which Is an express
sion Of views from DR.. Andrew M.
Soule Of Georgia College Of Agricul-
ture, one Of the best known experts in
the country today, on the proposition
of feeding musty corn to stock. The
article follows:
"Pellagra, a disease which first ap-
peared in this section less than three
months ago, is causing the health de-
partment Of Atlanta no little concern.
Three recent deaths in Atlanta hos
pitals are attributed to this disease,
and health officials recognized the ne
cessity of eradicating the causes at
once. 1t is declared that the disease
is due to the eating Of food made from
corn, and the colored popula-
ton, whose chief diet is corn bread,
are greatly alarmed over the an
"Pellagra has been known since
1855, when 1t was first described by
Thierry. The word means raw skin,
and describes one of the characteristic
symptoms Of this disease, which ap-
peared in Spain and Italy at about the
same time, and from thence spread to
various parts Of Europe and northern
Africa. 1t was first described in this
by DR.. H. G.. Harris, secre-
tary Of the state board Of health OF
Georgia. Since then it was reported
to have been observed in two asylums
in the south. DR.. Harris also reports
having observed several other cases
since his original discovery. The symp-
toms of this trouble vary so greatly
that it is exceedingly difficult to rec
ognize 1t. In the first stages the per-
son lacks energy and there is mental
with pains in the head and
spinal column. During the spring and
these symptoms disappear,
and the patient generally appears to
be in good health in July or August.
In the second stage, the patient gen.
orally loses appetite during the winter
season, and evinces either great thirst
or a distaste for liquids. In many in
stances there Is a strong distaste for
food prepared from Indian corn. Diar-