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Coining to the most recent of germ theories of Beri-beri, namely, that formulated lately by HAMILTON WRIGHT, it has been our chief aim to follow out this as carefully as possible during the present enquiry. Put before the medical pro- fession as it has been by WRIGHT, such a theory of Primary Gastro-duodenitis due to a micro-organism (probably not unlike the B. Diptheria in its action) lying latent in some unknown form and multiplying in the stomach and duodenum, re- quires carnest consideration before it can be accepted or refuted. At the outset HAMILTON WRIGHT accepts the dogma that Beri-beri is to be classed as an acute specific infectious disease.. The arguments for and against such a statement are many, and it is our intention to deal with this branch of the subject under a sepa rate heading. Given the infectivity of the disease, WRIGHT shews us the primary lesion of the disease in the gastro-duodenal umcous membrane and notes the inci- dence of bacteria in such tissue, as are pathological in this locality. He likens the growth of such bacteria in the mucous membrane to that of diphtheria and is in- clined to attribute all the well-marked evidence of the presence of Beri-beri to secondary degenerations called forth by the action of an assimilable toxin elabor- ated by the bacilli locally in the gastro-duodenal mucosa and absorbed directly into the general blood stream. According to WRIGHT hoards of a particular form of bacillus are found between the epithelial cells of the pathological mucous mem- brane, and the number of these gradually diminish as the healthy mucosa is reached.

Further than these bland statements as to the incidence of bacteria in the nucosa of the alimentary tract in Beri-beri, we find little in WRIGHT'S paper on the subject regarding the isolation of his special bacteria and the results which he obtained on testing his cultures experimentally. Without such data one feels bound to attribute little importance to that part of WRIGHT's researches which deal with the bacteriology of the disease. Indeed we may go further and point out that as the alimentary tract throughout its entire course is a regular hotbed of all sorts of biological life, the mere finding microscopically, in sections of the damaged gut, of hoards of bacteria can excite no surprise or suspicion that these micro- organisms are actually the causal agents of the disease. In the pathological section of our report we mention that in our opinion the pathological condition as found in the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane was not an active process, but one due in the main to passive congestion. Hæmorrhages auil broken down areas of mu- cosa were described, and necrosis was mentioned as being present in a certain number of the cases. Given therefore such a mucosa lining a gut full of milliards of biological life, it is to be expected that should such a membrane become patho- logical, the morbid areas muist afford an excellent nilus for the growth of such organisms, and their presence in section in enormous numbers would certainly be noted. In the experimental part of our research, it will be seen that the bacteria. of the gut and its membranes of cases of Beri-beri are non-pathogenic when intro- duced into the alimentary tract of other animals.

Apart from our experimental studies our rescarches along bacteriological lines have been directed as follows:-

I. - BLOOD.

(a.) Blood films from several hundred cases of Beri-beri of all types have been examined according to the latest tinctorial methods including LEISHMAN'S modification of ROMANOWSKY'S method. In every case a negative result as regards -organisms was obtained.

(b.) Large quantities 10-20 c.c. of blood have been taken ante-mortem from acute cases of Beri-beri, in nearly 50 cases, and transferred to a variety of nutrient media either in flasks or in test tubes. Subsequently some of these were incubated, and others were grown at the room temperature. The flasks and tubes were kept under observation for at least 14 days. In every case in which the technique was faultless, the flasks and tubes remained sterile.

(e) Blood was directly transferred from Beri-beri cases to a number of ani- inals. The result was constantly negative (vide Experimental section. ).

II.—SPLEEN PUNCTURES during life were made in nearly a hundred cases. The blood obtained was treated in exactly the same way as that described under *Blood" («.), (b.) and (c.). In every case a negative resule followed.