New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-12
Public Health Service
Proves Disease Is Due
TO One-Sided Diet.
TESTS ON CONVICTS
SETTLE ALL DOUBT
Result Officially Declared Epoch
Making in Fight Against
Dreaded Plague.
Iron The Tribune Bureau. J

Washington, Nov. 11.-Experi ments
just completed on a convict farm in
Mississippi by the United States Public
Health Service, have conclusively es-
tablished the cause and cure Of pella-
era. AS a result. q disease which 49,
600 persons in the United States will
have before 1915 ends. and from which
there will be not fewer than 1900
deaths in the year. may be entirely
wiped out.
The disease Is caused by a one-sided
diet-too many cereals and too little
meat, eggs, milk, beans, peas and other
foods containing proteids.
Eleven convicts. with the promise
from Governor Brewer that they would
be pardoned after the experiments,
were segregated in the prison camp.
just eight miles from Jackson. TWEEN
ty other convicts were kept under pre-
cisely the same observation. and with
precisely the same treatment-water,
exercise, hours of leisure. and every
thing else except diet, The eleven
convicts were given food absolutely
lacking proteids, while the twenty
were kept on q normal diet. Six OF
the evelen contractor pellagra within
FIVE months, their cases being verified
by several scientists as true pellagra.
The official account Of the expert
ments announced to-day by Assistant
Secretary Of the Treasury Byron K.
Newton, in charge Of the Public Health
Service. says:
"The final epoch-making experiment
of the Public Health Service was car
ried out at the farm Of the Mississip-
pi State Penitentiary, about eight
miles east Of Jackson. Miss. and, to-
gether with the previous work Of the
service, completes the chain in the
prevention and cure Of the disease.
The work OF the Mississippi farm has
been in charge Of Surgeon Joseph
Goldberger and Assistant Surgeon q.
A. Wheeler, Of the United States Public
Health Service. The farm consists OF
1900 acres, in the centre OF which
is the convict camp.
"The final experiment was under
taken for the purpose Of testing the
possibility Of producing peAagrs IN
healthy human white adult males BY
restricted, one-sided, mainly carbohy-
drate (cereal) diet OF eleven conviets
who volunteered for this experiment.
six developed typical dermatit.s and
mild nervous gastro-intestina! symp-
toms.
Experts, including DR.. Z. Il. Gallo
way, secretary of the Mississippi STATE
Board Of Health; DR.. Nolan Stewart,
formerly superintendent OF the Missis-
sippi State Hospital for the Insane, a.
Jackson; DR.. Marcus Hause, professor
of dermatology, Medical College OF the
University Of Tennessee, Memphis, and
DR.. Martin R. Engman, professor q
dermatology in the Washington Medi-
cal School, ST. Louis, declare that the
disease which was produced was true
pellagra.
prior TO the commencement o.
these experiments no history could be
found of the occurrence OF pel!agra on
the penitentiary farm. On this farm
are seventy-fve or eighty convlcts.
Governor Earl Brewer offered 70 par
don twelve of the convicts who would
volunteer for the experiment Iney
were assured that they would receive
proper care throughout the experiment
and treatment should u be necessary.
The diet given was bountifu! ana more
than sufficient 20 sustain life. II dli-
fered from that given the other con
victs merely in the absence OF meats
milk, eggs, beans, peas and similar
proteid foods.
victs selected for the experiment were
treated exactly as were the remaining
convicts. They had the same routine
work and discipline, the same PERIODS
of recreation, and the same water 10
"Their quarters were better than
those Of the other convicts. The diet
given them consisted Of biscuits, fried
mush. grits and brown gravy, syrup
corn bread, cabbage, sweet potatoes
rice, collards and coffee with sugar
All components of the dietary were OF
the best quality and were properly
cooked.
% r. convjcts were afflicted with any
other disease, they were kept undei
observation from February 70 April
10 two and a half months, on which
date the one-sided diet was begun.
although the occurrence OF nervous
svrontorns and gastro-intestinal DIS
tnrbances was noted early, II was not
,n.1 Sentember -, or about 1--WE
months after the beginning Of the re-
stricted diet, that the skin symptoms
so Characteristic Of pellagra began tc
develop. These symptoms are consld'
cred as typical, every precautioh DeIhe
taken 70 make sure that they were ho'
caused by any other disease ., a.. v yUa.
viets upon whom the experiment was
being made. as we'll as twenty other
cony9cts Who were selected as controls
were kept under continuous medical
surveillance. +
"No cases Of pellagra developed IN
camp. excepting among those men VINO
were on the restricted diet. The eH-
perimcnters have. therefore, drawn the
conclusion that pellagra has been
caused in az least six Of the eleven Vol
unteers as result Of the one-sided
diet on which hey subsisted.
"On the basis Of this discovery tbs