FOODS HUMAN NUTRITION. 769 



man per day. The ranjie in protein content on the different days of the week 

 was from r>() to IKi jrni. and in enerjiy from 2.31 T) to 2.'.);>4 calories. The basal 

 ration consists of 270 j;m. rice, 45 sm. sugar, 300 jini. bread, about 250 gm. 

 camotes or potatoes, and 50 to 100 gm. onions, which would supply about 45 

 gm. protein and 2,100 calories. To this is added on the different days of the 

 week fish, bacon, or meat, and sometimes mongo beans also in somewhat vary- 

 ing quantities, together with a little tea, coffee, or ginger root. 



As the author jwints out, the average weight of the Filipino is only from 50 

 to 55 kg. as comi)ared with an average of 05 kg. for the European, a fact which 

 must be taken into account in comparing the above-mentioned values for the 

 daily diet with commonly accepted standards. The author considers, however, 

 that food requirements are proportional to surface area rather than to weight, 

 and that as Filipinos are on an average probably thinner and taller than Euro- 

 peans of the same weight, their energj' requirement is only about 10 per cent 

 less than that of the European, instead of 20 per cent, which would be the esti- 

 mate based upon variations in body weight. In general, he concludes that the 

 energy requirements of the body are not lower in the Tropics than in temperate 

 regions as has often been claimed. 



To determine whether the diet of the prisoners was in accord with the usual 

 Filipino food habits determinations were made of the nitrogen in the urine of 

 laboratory servants and Filipino students. With the servants " we have never 

 obtained less than 10 gm. of nitrogen in 24 hours, and usually we have found 

 about 12 gm., which corresponds to about <0 to 75 gm. of absorbed protein." 

 In the case of the students the urine " showed a nitrogen content of about 12 

 to 15 gm., corresponding to from 70 to 100 gm. protein. The results of these 

 examinations warrant the statement that the quantity of protein found on an 

 average in the prisoners' food corresponds to the protein intake of the average 

 Filipino workman. 



" Concerning the estimation of the caloric value of the food of the people, we 

 are forced to apply a rougher method. The Filipino is accustomed to take his 

 food together with others from the same dishes and is hence unable to state 

 with accuracy the quantity of food that he individually consumes. We know 

 that the Filipino lives principally on rice and fish, some vegetables and fruits, 

 and very seldom eats meat for the reason that it is not always, for him, ob- 

 tainable." 



According to observations made on house servants, and information obtained 

 from students, the author concludes that the amount eaten per day on an 

 average is from 0.50 to 700 gm. of rice and about 200 to 2.50 gm. of fish. Such 

 a ration, disregarding the vegetables and fruit occasionally eaten, according 

 to the author's calculations, would furnish about 70 to 75 gm. protein, 10 gm. of 

 fat, and 525 gm. of carbohydrates per man per day. That the daily food of 

 Filipinos in provinces, and even in towns, does not always contain as much 

 fish is noted. 



In discussing the wholesomeness of a diet without fish, the author directs 

 attention to the occurrence of certain diseases such as beri-beri, which are 

 observed where people live exclusively on a diet furnishing a single kind of 

 vegetable protein, and states that in this connection he has made experiments 

 on the effects of a single proteid with rabbits fed corn. 



" One other point must not be forgotten. The recent researches on the chem- 

 istry of protein bodies on the one hand, and the l)iological reaction on the 

 other hand, show that the question as to what constituents make up the albu- 

 minous substances may be of great importance for their value in nutrition. 

 While it is certain that a man may continue in good health for a long time on a 

 carefully selected purely vegetable diet; nevertheless we see that it is very 



