FOODS — HUMAN NUTRITION. 667 



buffalo or carabao — is probably sold at times here as in other Philippine towns, 

 but the supply must be very limited. . . . 



" Fowls, especially chickens and ducks, are found abundantly locally and are 

 considerably utilized for food, especially among the natives of the well-to-do 

 classes, while eggs, both fresh and 'balut' (incubated) are somewhat used. 

 The comparatively high price of all meats, poultry, and eggs places these prod- 

 ucts beyond the means of the average native of the laboring class for regular 

 articles of diet." 



Various cakes and other sweet or starchy foods and similar materials are 

 sold in the market, the author states, but wheat bread is used scarcely at all 

 and may not be considered to have any place in the dietary of the average 

 native. 



"Dairy products such as milk, butter, and cheese have no place in the 

 dietary of the natives, except the former, which is obtained from the water 

 buffalo and is used to a limited extent. . . . 



" Fresh potatoes, onions, etc., although always to be found in the Manila 

 market, are rarely obtainable locally, and then only in very limited quantities." 



The list of fruits, vegetables, and pot herbs is a fairly long one, but according 

 to the author, " of the entire list of fruits . . . , bananas, mangoes, and pine- 

 apples are the only ones that can be ranked as first-class fruits from an edible 

 standpoint." 



The food of the people of Taytay from a physiological standpoint,^!. Aron 

 (I'll ill i>i)inc Jour. Sci., B. Mrd. Sci., ', (IH09), .Vo. .'/. pp. 2,?.7-2.?/).— Continuing 

 the work referred to above, the author has collected and summarized data re- 

 garding the food habits of Filipino natives and the nutritive value of their 

 ordinary diet, his estimates of quantities eaten being based upon the amounts 

 expended for daily staple foods and the local market prices. The amount of 

 nitrogen was determined in several species of fish, fresh and cured, used by the 

 natives. 



" In making a study of the food and its nutritive value for these people, one 

 has to consider principally the quantity of rice and fish eaten daily. The pro- 

 tein material found in the vegetables and fruits can l)e neglected and the protein 

 in the few eggs occasionally eaten is too small in amount to be of any impor- 

 tance. However, the caloric value of the sugar and the sugar preparations and 

 of the carbohydrates found in vegetables and fruits can not be disregarded 

 altogether. . . . 



"The average amount of rice per person is about 700 gni. [which would sup- 

 ply 50 gni. protein and 2.000 calories], but for a hard-working man it is some- 

 what higher, from 850 to 900 gm. The fish eaten by the people of Taytay 

 deserves our attention especially as a source of protein, the content of fat in 

 the Philippine fishes being very low, at the most only 1 to 2 per cent; this 

 means that the fish contains only one-tenth as much fat as protein. . . . The 

 amount of fish eaten per person can not be determined with the same accuracy 

 as the amount of rice," but the author concludes from available data that the 

 amount eaten on an average per day will supply 40 gm. protein. He concludes 

 further that the other vegetables and foods eaten in addition to fish and rice 

 would supply about 500 calories per person per day, so that the total daily diet 

 of the average person would supply about 90 gm. protein and 2.700 calories of 

 energy. The somewhat larger quantity of rice used in the diet of a hard-working 

 man would make the nutritive value of the average daily diet 100 gm. protein 

 and 3.100 calories, according to the author. 



" Practically all the rice used in this town belongs to the class of ' cured ' 

 rice, which according to some observers never causes beriberi even when it 

 forms the greater portion of the nutriment over a long period of time. The rice 



