REVIEW — TROPICAL MEDICINE, ETC. 81 



of decided value as a producer of energy, and I have myself felt benefited from taking a Food — 

 liberal allowance of sugar during the trying summer months. I am inclined to think that conlinued 



the good etfects of the cup of strong cotfee so frequently taken in the forenoon during office 

 hours are due in some measure to the contained sugar. Payn mentions : — 



1. The incalculable restorative effects of liquid at a high temperature aft.er over six hours of continuous 

 marching. So great is the effect of boiling water on the efficiency of a man undergoing a forced march of 10 to 14 

 hours tliat I feel certain, from my experiments, that it is more important to provide the soldier on a long march 

 with a small apparatus for heating liquid than with food. The extent to which boiling water can take tlio place 

 of food was never fully realised by me until I marched 14 hours on three sandwiches and plenty of hot water. 

 Nothing but the possession of a spirit-lamp saved nio fi-om serious illness from fatigue and exposure during 

 some of these marches, and I have no doulit many travellers could corroborate this. 



2. The imperious craving for sugar in some form which these long marches produce and the enormous 

 importance of an adequate supply of sugar in the diet of soldiers performing much liodily exertion. I have no 

 hesitation in saying, firstly, that the importance of sugar (owing to the consumption of the sugar in the Ijlood by 

 bodily exercise) is most inadequately recognised in English military diet ; and, secondly, that the private soldier 

 is too often driven to satisfy the natural craving for sugar after violent exercise by drinking alcohol. Hence he 

 believes that alcohol is natural and does him good. I further believe that it could be shown Ijy experiment that 

 men who were allowed a glass of milk with four lumps of sugar in it could undergo greater fatigue on that drink 

 than on almost any other. 



.3. The vast superiority of hot oatmeal porridge at breakfast and supper over almost every other article of 

 food in maintaining efficiency and health during prolonged marches. Abnormal exertions, such as 15 hours of 

 climbing, throw the real value of foods into a far stronger relief than usual. The presence or the lack of that food, 

 during an ordeal of this sort, at breakfast or supper has so vast an effect on one's condition that I can scarcely 

 imagine any General who is aware of its value overlooking it as an almost complete and most portable food for a 

 forced march of 14 hours. It is far richer in mineral salts than meat. 



4. The utility of dried figs. Given a meal of hot porridge for breakfast and supper a soldier could mai-ch 

 without discomfort or harm for a whole day or night on a handful of ligs and some hot liquid, owing to the fact 

 that they are so full of sugar and mineral salts, which are what the marching man chiefly needs, .\nyone who 

 overlooks the value of the fig in catering for the food of an army corps on campaign commits a great blunder. In 

 a rapid campaign the great requisite in food is the irreducible minimum for health and strength, which is not the 

 case in time of peace. I believe that a scientific medical investigation of the effects of the ordinary soldiers' diet 

 and of such a diet as the one indicated above in the case of men undergoing long tests of endurance, would be 

 exceedingly valuable from a military point of view as well as of great scientific interest, and I also believe that a 

 medical investigation of the dietetic tastes of persons who are known to perform so much bodily exertion as the 

 leading lawn-tennis players could scarcely fail to disclose new and valuable facts on the relation of athletics to 

 food values. 



As regards tinned foods, Cathcart' deals with the bacterial flora found in "blown" 

 tins, chiefly in those containing sardines. The tins were bulged and, on being opened, a 

 foetid gas escaped, but the flesh of the sardines appeared quite normal and healthy. It was 

 found that organisms of an intestinal type were present, which on re-inoculation into sound 

 tins gave rise to a gaseous decomposition. No toxic symptoms were produced on feeding 

 guinea pigs with the contents of the " blovsrn " tins. 



Beans form a favourite article of consumption in the Sudan, hence attention may be 

 directed to an epidemic of poisoning due to their use when tinned, and recorded by Eolly.'-* 

 Bacillus paratyphi, B., and Bacterinin coli commune were found present, but, owing to the fact 

 that the beans had been heated almost to the boiling-point, the illness was of a very benign 

 character. Two hundred and fifty people, were, however, affected. The bacteria appear to 

 have been killed and only their toxins consumed. 



A question sometimes asked in the Tropics is — " How long may tinned foods be expected 

 to remain in good condition?" Harrington^ answers this by stating that properly canned 

 foods, according to the evidence at hand, should remain in good condition indefinitely. He 

 cites a case where tins were known to remain in good condition for 63 years. At the same time, 

 there do not seem to be any statistics on this point so far as hot countries are concerned. 



Beveridge,'' has an instructive paper on South African experiences. He found 



that no tinned meat stocked in the open, exposed to changes of temperature, heat of the sun and effects of rain in 

 warm climates, shoald ever be kept for more than one year. When under suitable cover, perhaps for two years, but 

 never more, and in all cases should be inspected at intervals. He explains that the paint of the tins gets cracked 

 or knocked off, damp and heat induce rust which specially affects dirt or cracks, and a hole, which may be very 

 minute, speedily forms. He also notes that, on long keeping, a change, of the nature of adipocere, not understood, 

 sometimes takes place in the meat itself, and this is another argument against long keeping. Paper labels are 

 condemned, while only painted tins should be accepted. 



» Cathcart, E. P. (August, 190G), "The Bacterial Flora of 'Blown' Tins of Preserved Food." Journal of 

 Hygiene, p. 248. 



1 Eolly, M&nch Med. IFoch., 1906, No. 37, p. 1798. 



" Harrington, C. H., " Practical Hygiene." 3rd Edition. 



•* Beveridge, W. W. 0. (August, 1906). Journal uf the Roijal Army Medical Corps. 



' Article not consulted in the original. 



