Further Research on Epidemic Dropsy

To the Editor, The Indian Medical Gazette StR,?I have read with considerable interest your leading article on epidemic dropsy in the October issue of the Gazette. I wish to draw your attention to one or two points in connection with your reference to our work on the subject. While offering criticism on the deductions made by us from our experiments you make no mention of the fact that albumin was not detected in the samples of urine .in which hyaline and finely granular casts were found. Besides I fail to see how the presence of these casts in the urine of experimental cases invalidate the conclusions arrived at. In fairness to the rice theory, I might mention that we have made no categorical statement to the effect that epidemic dropsy has been observed in persons who have not used rice at all. The fact is that we came across only two patients who stated that for certain reasons they had given up the use of rice as a regular article of food and it was only on very special occasions that they took any rice. Whether the mustard-oil theory, which is at present, admittedly incomplete, is accepted as proven or not, there is no gainsaying the fact that the recent work has narrowed down the issues and therefore the theory deserves to be fully worked out. Under the circumstances I venture to say that the pessimism manifest