NUTRITION IN MAN 349 



papers, Hindhede (1263) showed how this came about. Although at 

 the beginning of the war, Germany was in better position than Den- 

 mark, as regards its food reserves, it tried to conserve its cattle to 

 the very last, because of the belief in the special nutritive value of 

 animal protein; for this reason, the cattle consumed a large proportion 

 of the food which could have been utilized by the population. This 

 was true particularly of pigs. Kuczynski and Zuntz (1264) laid stress 

 on this point at the time. In Denmark, on the contrary, cattle con- 

 servation was prevented by law, and as a result the Danish people 

 had a dietary composed as follows, according to Hindhede (1265) : 



grams per week grama per week 



Whole rye bread 1860-2036 Whole milk 700-2100 



Wheat bread 420- 700 Skim milk 700-1400 



Potatoes 2500-3500 Beef 175- 500 



Grits 210- 350 Pork 175- 314 



Sugar 448- 467 Butter, margarine 250 



Cheese 125-140 Fruits, vegetables 700 



Beer 700 Coffee 35-60 



This gave a daily ration of 57 to 68 grams protein (of which 17 to 

 33 grams were of animal origin), 48 to 59 grams fat and 2300 to 2400 

 calories. This diet differed from the normal in that it contained less 

 protein, and in the substitution of vegetable for animal protein. 

 What was the effect of this mode of nutrition on the health of the 

 population? The mortality dropped to 10.4 per 1000, the lowest 

 figure of all countries. There was a definite decrease of infections, 

 including tuberculosis, and a notable drop in cancer mortality, which 

 fell to 50 per cent of the previous figure. Unfortunately, it is not 

 certain how much of this improvement was due to the general dietary, 

 and how much to the abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and coffee. 

 Of the avitaminoses in Denmark, we have reported only on oph- 

 thalmia, which we shall speak of later on. In Germany, on the con- 

 trary, although there was a lack of vitamine A, ophthalmia was 

 rarely noted. 



Besides this, we have observations on the effect of the war diet 

 on the general health and the various resultant pathological occur- 

 rences, made by Neuhaus (1266). In women, considerable war- 

 amenorrhea was observed by Nilsson (1267). Puerperal eclampsia 

 was markedly decreased according to Gessner (1268). Momm 

 (1269) and Klotz (1270) found that lactation was unfavorably 



