EEVIEW — TROPICAL MEDICINE, ETC. 79 



Food. It is quite impossible to deal in any detail with the mass of recent papers 

 on this subject. We propose only to mention a few which refer to food in the Tropics 

 or to tinned foods or to foods suitable for travel, as being most likely to be useful from 

 a Sudanese standpoint. 



Simpson! points out that the defect likely to be in the diet of a European in the Tropics 

 is that it is too nitrogenous and fatty. This is due to the tendency to continue a diet 

 suitable for a temperate climate. The result is that too much meat is taken, which places a 

 strain on the excretory organs and causes disorder of the digestive functions. The condition 

 which ensues predisposes to sunstroke. Animal food should be diminished and a more 

 liberal allowance of vegetable food taken. The latter supplies the necessary constituents in 

 a less stimulating form and one more suited to a climate in which congestion of the abdominal 

 viscera is specially apt to occur. lu the Tropics, where the temperature is nearly as high 

 and sometimes higher than that of the body temperature, there is not the same necessity for 

 fatty food as in colder climates, and the substitution of fruits and farinaceous substances 

 for oleaginous articles will not only be more grateful to the taste but will prevent intestinal 

 disorders which, under the circumstances, are likely to be produced by a diet which is too 

 fatty. It would be a mistake, however, to exclude meat altogether from the diet, and, in the 

 case of special hard work out-doors, meat may be increased in the diet with advantage. 

 Carbohydrates furnish energy with a moderate production of internal heat, hence they are 

 very valuable in the Tropics, especially indigenous cereals such as maize, rice and the native 

 lentils, as they contain less nitrogen. Sugar is excellent when energy is to be liberated 

 rapidly with the least tax upon the digestive system. Simpson cites the case of the debilitated 

 cavalry horses in the Philippines which recovered health and energy when their coarse grass 

 or hay was sprinkled with molasses or sweetened water. He also refers to the deficient 

 nitrogen in the diet of the Hindoo, rice itself, though agreeable and digestible being deficient 

 in nourishment. In grain-eating populations starchy constituents bulk too largely and 

 require to be supplemented by a little animal food rich in oil, or seeds rich in albuminates 

 or oil, such as ground-nuts, or by adding other pulses less rich in oil and supplying the 

 requisite amount of oil separately. 



Some useful notes are given on the decomposition of flesh and fish foods in the Tropics 

 and the danger of such decomposed food giving rise to choleraic diarrhcsa, while diseased 

 meat and adulterations of various kinds are also considered. 



A good little book is that by MacKnight,^ which gives lists of foods found in and suitable 

 for the Tropics. It is a careful compilation and useful for reference. 



El gofio is a food which has been praised for use in warm climates.^ It is manufactured 

 from different flours, including those obtained from wheat, maize, barley, white lupine, rye, 

 chick-peas and beans. It is said, along with milk and eggs, to be amply sufficient for 

 nourishment in the Tropics and is recommended as a ration for soldiers. 



Wiley* mentions the value of a fruit diet and draws attention to the fact that the 

 prevailing characteristics of the natural food of the Tropics is found in the excessive 

 quantity of sugar which they contain, or, as in the case of cassava, of starch. The amount 

 of protein is very small, and the amount of oil is, with the exception of the cocoanut, not 

 marked. On the whole it appears that the natural tropical food is one composed of a large 

 excess of carbohydrates, in which sugar predominates. A gradual change in dietary is 

 indicated when one takes up residence in a tropical climate. 



An excellent paper is that by Cantlie.^ He derides the erroneous belief that the natives 

 of the Tropics and sub-Tropics live on rice, and points out that vegetable eaters, quite apart 

 from the vegetarian faddists, are by no means confined to hot countries. He then considers 

 the various kinds of food available in the Tropics, some of his remarks applying with 

 particular force to the Sudan. He points out why beef is difficult to obtain and why, when 

 obtained, it is often tough and unsavoury. He mentions that most Europeans eat more meat 

 (when they can get it) in the Tropics than at home. Some say this is because the climate 

 is exhausting, and more strengthening food is required ; but the real reason, no doubt, is that 



' Simpson, W. J. (July 15th, 1903), " Tropical Hygiene." Journal of Tropical Medicine, p. 224, Vol. V. 



- MacKnight, T. M., " Pood for the Tropics," London, 1904. 



= Reyes, S. (March 12th, 1904), " Pood in Warm Climates." Liaicd, p. 739, Vol. I. 



♦ Wiley, H. W. (December 3rd, 1904), " Diet for the Tropics." Quoted in Epit. British Medical Journal, p. 83. 



" Cantlie, J. (October 15th, 1906), " Pood and Digestion in the Tropics." Journal of Tropical Medicine, 

 p. 312, Vol. IX. 



