Infantile beriberi remains a major medical problem in the Philippine Islands. Its yearly toll of infant lives is enormous, challenging the imagination and demanding the cooperative effort of every physician in the country. In 1928, according to Professor Albert,1 the foremost worker on the subject today in the country, "the Philippine Committee on Beriberi2 stated that infantile beriberi claimed an average of 16,500 deaths annually among infants alone, representing 28.10 per cent of the total deaths among infants under 1 year of age." It is still in the shadow of half knowledge. Albert stated in one of his articles, "I wish to encourage the interest of other workers, particularly clinical towards this question, still mysterious in its appearance, diagnosis and treatment."
The present work has been actuated by a desire to contribute, if only in a small measure, to the clinical study of infantile beriberi. The department of pediatrics of