112 OF FOOD, AND THE DIGESTIVE PROCESS. 



nitrogenous to three and a half parts of non-nitrogenous food. If to this 

 about 6 pints of water, and the oxygen taken up in the act of respiration, 

 which he estimates at \\ lb., be added, we shall obtain a total of about 2 * th 

 of the weight of the body consumed in 24 hours. It is from the experience 

 afforded by the usual consumption of food by large bodies of men that our 

 best data are obtained ; and these data are sufficient to enable us to predict 

 with tolerable accuracy what will be required by similar aggregations, though 

 they can afford no guide to the consumption of individuals. We shall first 

 consider the quantity sufficient for men in regular active exercise ; and then 

 inquire how far that may be safely reduced, for those who lead a more seden- 

 tary life. The Diet-scale of the British Navy may be advantageously taken 

 as a specimen of what is required for the first class. It is well known that 

 an extraordinary improvement has taken place in the health of seamen 

 during the last eighty years ; so that three ships can now be kept afloat, with 

 only the same number of men as were formerly required for two. This is 

 due to the improvement of the quality of the food, in combination with 

 other prophylactic means. At present, it may safely be affirmed that it 

 would not be easy to construct a diet-scale more adapted to answer the re- 

 quired purpose. The health of crews that have long been afloat, and have 

 been exposed to every variety of external conditions, appears to be preserved 

 (at least when they are under the direction of judicious officers) to the full 

 as well as that of persons subject to similar vicissitudes on shore; and there 

 can be no complaint of insufficiency of food, although the allowance cannot 

 be regarded as superfluous. It consists of from 31 to 35j oz. of dry nutri- 

 tious matter daily ; of this, 26 oz. are vegetable and the rest animal ; and 

 it contains, as does also that of the English soldier, 5 oz. of Nitrogenous 

 compounds and 10 oz. of Carbon. The ordinary diet of the Dutch soldier 

 contains 5 oz. of Nitrogen compounds and 101 oz. of carbon in war, but in 

 peace only 82 oz. of the former; the French soldier, 4J oz. and 12 oz. ; 

 Greenwich pensioner, 82 oz. and 10 oz. ; Chelsea pensioner, 4 oz. and 9:'i oz. ; 

 the old men of Gillespie's hospital, in Edinburgh, 3 oz. and 10 oz. Paupers. 

 Taking the average of all the workhouses in the kingdom, 3J- oz. of Nitroge- 

 nous compounds and 8? oz. of Carbon. The boys of the Royal Naval School, 

 at Greenwich, 2J oz. and 7* oz. ; and, finally, the boys of Christ's Hospital, 

 in London, have only 2J oz. of Nitrogenous compounds and 7 oz. of Carbon 

 in their food. 1 Lieb'ig 3 estimates that a laborer of 140 Ibs. weight requires 

 for his sufficient nourishment 2025 grains of albuminates daily. The Eng- 

 lish navvies who constructed the railway at Balaclava, and astonished both 

 the French and English soldiers by the amount of work they accomplished, 

 consumed daily from 2325 2462 grains of albuminates. The men in the 

 Munich breweries consume on an average 2558 grains of albuminates per 

 diem. In the case of Prisoners, the diet should be, of course, as spare as 

 possible, consistently with health; but it should be carefully modified, in 

 individual cases, according to several collateral circumstances, such as de- 

 pression of mind, compulsory labor, previous intemperate habits, and espe- 

 cially the length of confinement. It has been supposed by some, that pris- 

 oners require a fuller diet than persons at large ; this is probably erroneous ; 

 but more variety is certainly desirable, to counteract, as far as possible, the 

 depressing influence of their condition upon the digestive powers. The evil 

 effect of an undue reduction in the supply of food, and of insufficient atten- 

 tion to its quality, has unfortunately been too frequently displayed in our 

 prisons; a notable example of which will be hereafter alluded to ( 81). 



1 Lankcstcr in Guide to the Food Collection of the South Kensington Museum. 



2 LaiR'ct, 180'J, vol. i, p. 5. 



