By remedying overcrowding, improving drainage, installing sewers and
regulating diet along scientific lines, the rate was reduced in six
months to 70 per 1000, and there it stuck.
A systematic examination of the stools of prisoners was then
made. Eighty-four per cent were found to be afflicted with at least
one intestinal parasite. Fifty per cent had two or more, and twenty
per cent had three or more. Fifty-two per cent of the total had
hookworm. Active treatment for the elimination of these parasites was
begun in one barrack, and after the work was completed it was noted
that there was much less disease there than in the remainder. All
of the thirty-five hundred prisoners were ultimately examined,
and intestinal parasites eradicated if present. The death rate then
dropped to thirteen to the thousand, and has remained at or near this
figure up to the present time.
I have already referred to the discovery of the cause of beri-beri,
and to the effect of the governor-general's order forbidding the
use of polished rice in government institutions or by government
organizations.
I subsequently made a strong effort to secure legislation imposing
a heavy internal revenue tax on polished rice, thus penalizing its
use. I failed, but such effort will be renewed by some one, let us
hope with ultimate success.
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