i 4 BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



No amount of contempt for the data of science can 

 Sfet over the fact that no work can be obtained without 



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its equivalent energy value in food. Very few of us 

 could be allowed to lie in bed doing nothing. 



But the problem arises as to how much is really 

 necessary. We have seen that 2000 calories may be 

 regarded as the absolute minimum for a crrown man 



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doing no external work. And that 2500 calories 

 suffices for what are called sedentary occupations. 

 But, according to the careful records obtained by 

 Hopkins and Wood, an average middle-class family 

 before the war consumed about 4400 calories per 

 person. This seems undoubtedly to be unnecessarily 

 great. On the other hand, the diet proposed by the 

 food controller at the present time (January, 1918), 

 as far as rationed articles go, works out at 2000 

 calories only. Therefore, if only moderate work is 

 being done, 1400 more calories must be obtained from 

 unrationed articles, such as potatoes, fish, peas, &c. 

 -a rather large proportion, and possibly liable to 

 lead to mistakes in both directions. On account of 

 the high nutritive value of bread as the basal con- 

 stituent of diet, it is doubtless best to leave it un- 

 rationed, and to use all available transport for wheat 

 alone. The existence of a shortage of food in the 

 world as a whole is, or was at one time, stated to be 

 the fact. This was unfortunate, because many people 

 happened to have heard of the large quantities of 

 wheat in Australia and elsewhere, only waiting for 

 ships to carry it. The manifest untruth of the former 

 statement naturally gave rise to doubts as to whether 

 there was really any basis for other admonitions as to 

 the need for economy. Another point with respect to 

 the deficiency in ships is sometimes forgotten, namely, 

 that it is greatly due to the large number taken by the 

 army for transport and other purposes. The question 



