96 



regular incomes, which in a number of cases were more than enough 

 to provide a comfortable living. It is therefore doubtless safe to 

 assume that these people ate at least as much as they needed. 



The Chicaoo families were on the whole rather less economical than 

 those in Philadelphia. In the average of all the Chicago studies each 

 cent spent secured 4. T grams of protein and 137 calories of energy, 

 while in the average of the Philadelphia studies there were 5 grams 

 of protein and 14-i calories of energy for each cent of the cost. As 

 was the case in Philadelphia, the Chicago families also differed widely 

 in respect to the economj^ of their purchases. Thus in stud}' No. 31a 

 the family spent 19.5 cents per man per day and secured 94 grams of 

 protein and 2,613 calories of energy, while the family in study No. 

 35a for practically the same expenditure, 19 cents per man per day, 

 obtained 123 grams of protein and 3,441 calories of energy. The 

 family in stud}' No. 39a secured 111 grams of protein and 3.167 calo- 

 ries of enerofv for 16.5 cents, while the family in study No. 52a obtained 

 the same amount of protein, 111 grams, and about 300 calories less 

 energy, or 2,860 calories, at a cost of about two and one-third times 

 as much, 37.2 cents. There are several other examples of the fact 

 that some of the families paid very much more than was necessary 

 for the quantities of nutrients and energy obtained. 



The costliness of the diets in these studies was not due to inability 

 to purchase in quantities. Several of the articles used in these studies 

 were bought in this way. the principal one being flour, which was 

 bought in every case by the bag or barrel. The chief reason for the 

 lack of economy in the purchase of food was inattention to or igno- 

 rance of the relation between the cost of food and its actual nutritive 

 value. 



COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS. 



Something perhaps should be said regarding the results of the 

 dietary studies in Philadel])hia and Chicago, considered as a whole. 

 It should ])e remembered that the studies were carried on some years 

 ago, before some of the experimental methods at present followed had 

 been devised. Furthermore, it was hardly possible with the limited 

 time and equipment at the investigators' disposal to make an entirely 

 satisfactory record of the foods purchased and eaten, and conse- 

 quently, in manj' cases considerable dependence had to be placed upon 

 information given by the families themselves. Certain errors are 

 almost sure to occur in studies of this kind, even under favorable cir- 

 cumstances and with the most careful attention on the part of those 

 conducting the investigations, especially under conditions like those 

 attending the work in Philadelphia, where the families studied were 

 almost without exception quite ignorant and untrained. The chief 

 source of error lies in the possible tendenc}' of the family to give a 



