The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1914-09-05
Cause Of PeIiaara.

The questions and answers depart
ment of the Times-Picayune furnish
es the following information in regard
to pellagra, what aroduess it.. Wheth-
er it rs durable, and whether It is
contagious:
While the exact cause of pellagra
is still undetermined and no definits
form of treatment has been devised,
the tendency of opinion is. that it
can be cured when treatment is be-
gun before the disease is too far ad-
yaneed. After 200 years of study in
European countries, the pellagra
problem is still unsolved.
Three theories have been advanced
as to the cause of the disease: U
The zeistic theory of Ballardini, dat
ing from 1845, giving corn poison
from excessive use of corn products
as the cause; (2) the cottonseed pro-
duets poison theory of Mizell in
1911, and (3) the sand-fly theory of
Sambon, dating from 1910 The first
two rest on. malnutrition, the last on
investigations were made In Italy,
and his conclusions were so well
grounded that the spoiled-maize
theory having failed to find suffi-
ciently strong supporting evidence in
this country, attempts were made to
substantiate Sambon's findings here.
The grounds ON which Sambon based
his conclusions may be outlined as
follows: % The endemic centers Of
pellagra in Italy have remained the
same since the disease was first de-
scribed; (2) the pellagra season coin
cides with the season of the appear
ance of the full-fledged sand fly, even
to the extent that if the spring is
early or late the sand fly is early Or
late in appearing, and pellagra cases
are correspondingly early Or late in
their appearance; (3) in centers of
pellagra infection whole families are
attacked simultaneously; (4) in non
pellagrous districts the disease does
not spread with the advent of a pei
lagrin from pelIagrous district; 90
when family has been removed
from pellagrous to nonpellagrous
district the children born in the for
mer district are pellagrins, while the
children born subsequent to removal
do not develop the disease; (6) the
disease is not hereditary, although
infants few months old may be-
come infected, especially if taken to
the fields where their mothers work
during the sand-fly season; (D pella-
gra is not contagious, but is trans
mitted to each Individual by an in
fected sand fly,
Roberts of Georgia found conditions
similar to those described by Sambon
in Italy. A like investigation was
later undertaken by Prof. S. J. Hunt
er, whose work is not completed, but
the evidence thus far obtained points
to the sand fly as a probable cause.
While the sand fly found in this
country is not of the species referred
to by Sambon, yet all the cases re-
ported in Kansas are found in those
counties included in the sand-fly ter
have been out of the state, it seems
that the cause is local.
The cotton region Wea ther bulletin
Of the United States Department of
Agriculture reports that during the
week ending Aug. 81 daily rains in
terfered with cotton picking, and
caused shedding and some rotting
Army worms, boil weevils, and cater
pillars continue damaging to cotton.
Corn is rotting in the fields because
Of the wet weather. Peas, peanuts,
Irish and sweet potatoes, late gardens,
cane, and turnips made rapid growth
and are in fine condition.
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