274 THE NEW WORLD OF SCIENCE 



The method of conducting an army nutritional survey was 

 in brief as follows: A survey party, reporting to the com- 

 manding officer, usually spent the first few days in becoming 

 acquainted with the camp and in learning where typical messes 

 could be found. The most highly efficient as well as the 

 poorest messes were purposely avoided. During these first 

 few days there was also made a preliminary inspection of the 

 subsistence stores and of the food on hand at the mess houses. 

 Next a determination was made, consisting of careful inven- 

 tories, by weight, of all foods in the store room in the beginning 

 and at the end of a definite period and of all accessions to stock 

 during the period. At the same time the garbage was care- 

 fully separated into edible and inedible portions; the former 

 was weighed, ground through a meat grinder or chopped with 

 spades according to the amount, and a sample taken for 

 analysis. Any foods whose composition was in question were 

 likewise analyzed. Deducting the second inventory from the 

 first, plus accessions to stock, and reducing to protein, fat, 

 carbo-hydrate, and energy content, and finally subtracting pro- 

 tein, fat, carbo-hydrate, and energy content found in the edible 

 waste, the net consumption for food per man per day would 

 be calculated. 



It was found by a careful study of 427 army messes repre- 

 senting about 135,000 men, that although the daily ration sup- 

 plied had a fuel value of about 3900 calories the actual con- 

 sumption of food amounted to a little over 3600 calories per 

 man. The protein content amounted to 131 gr. supplied and 

 122 gr. consumed; the fat content, 134 gr. supplied, 123 gr. 

 consumed; the carbo-hydrate content, 516 gr. supplied, 485 

 gr. consumed. The total waste was 7 per cent. In addition 

 to the ration almost all of the men added to their daily food 

 intake by purchases made at the canteens, most of the addi- 

 tions consisting of chocolates, cakes, pies, and soft drinks. 

 The average consumption record for 261 canteens was 365 

 calories per man per day. 



After careful analysis of the make-up of the ration in vogue 



