ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses scurvy, beri-beri, pellagra and keratomalacia (Xerophthalmia). Barlow's disease or scurvy in children, like adult scurvy is characterised by pallor, and weakness and tenderness of limbs. This disease was described by Barlow in 1889; and he gave explicit directions as to its treatment by orange juice, potato, raw milk, and raw meat juice. Beri-beri is characterised by weakness and loss of appetite followed by dropsy and by tingling and weakness of the legs, and more or less complete anaesthesia. The disease is endemic in rice-growing communities in the East, where the diet is almost exclusively confined to this single cereal. Keratomalacia is a rare disease, important in the history of dietetic preventive medicine. Pellagra is due to dietetic deficiency, though there is still doubt as to its exact genesis. It has long been regarded as a food intoxication due to the toxic products of spoiled maize.
