570 EXPEKIMENT STATION RECORD. 



creted, tlie average amount of uric acid and protein excreted, the relationship 

 of urea and of ammonia to total renal nitrogen, the relative absorption of pro- 

 tein by Hindus and Mohammedans on an animal diet, and similar matters. 

 From the results obtained it would appear that the Mohammedans, who are 

 accustomed to animal protein in their diet, absorb a higher percentage of it 

 than the vegetarian Hindus, so, according to the author, the inference is 

 justified " that the degree of nitrogen absorption depends largely on the manner 

 in which the protein of the diet is made up, and not on the absorptive power 

 of the intestinal tract of one class of people being much superior to that of an- 

 other class." 



In accordance with local customs, a large amount of salt (about 30 gm. per 

 day) was supplied to the Bengali prisoners, which, as the author points out, is 

 an excessive quantity, " and much beyond the physiological needs of the body." 

 Accordingly, tests were made with some of the subjects in which different 

 amounts of salt were supplied. According to the author's summary, " the evi- 

 dence is strong that a large ingestion of salt in the diet entails an increase in 

 the body weight, an increase in the quantity of urine secreted, and a marked 

 increase in the amount of salt eliminated by the skin. 



" The quantity of chlorids passed in the feces is very constant, and bears no 

 relation to the total intake of salt in the food ; it, in all probability, varies with 

 the percentage of the foodstuffs that passes out unabsorbed ; so that, in those 

 experiments where the same foods in the same quantities were given through- 

 out, the salt in the feces is practically constant. It is a very small amount — 

 only about 0.5 gm. per man daily. Practically complete absorption of the added 

 salt takes place whether the amount is large or small. . . . 



" The rational indication would therefore appear to be to give the amount 

 of salt which the kidneys are best able to deal with, and which throws no great 

 strain on them. . . . The addition of 10 gm. of salt to the daily diet shows 

 the lowest elimination by the skin and would therefore mean, if our deduction 

 is correct, that the kidneys are easily able to deal with that amount without 

 falling back to any great extent on the assistance of the skin." 



From a series of studies undertaken on the excretion of salt in perspiration, 

 the author concludes that " under normal conditions an excretion of 2 gm. of 

 NaCl by the skin is a large amount and a good deal beyond the average 

 excretion." 



In general, the author believes that " with a purely vegetable diet more salt 

 is required than in European diet scales." 



On the basis of the results of his investigations, the author discusses the 

 problem of the economical and satisfactory feeding of Bengali prisoners and the 

 relationship of food to physical development, paying attention especially to 

 criticisms which have been made to the conclusions presented in his earlier 

 report. 



" From a study of the urine, blood, physical development and general capa- 

 bility of the Bengali we expressed the conviction that the diet on which he 

 subsists was largely to blame for his miserably poor physique and want of vigor. 

 Nothing we have learned in this further study has tended to controvert that 

 opinion ; on the contrary, the more the subject has been gone into the stronger 

 the evidence becomes of its correctness." 



In connection with his study of the Bengali and Behari who dwell in the 

 plains, the author has collected data regarding the diet of hill tribes of Bengal, 

 where, as a rule, the diet is more generous than in the plains. Making allow- 

 ance for the difference in climate and for other factors which have been sug- 

 gested as affecting the condition of the people, the author is decidedly of the 



