54 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



advantage of it is not taken in the feeding of prisoners. In 

 America and Italy it forms the principal food for the majority 

 of the rural population. In 1900 one-third of the land under 

 cultivation in the United States was devoted to the maize crop, 

 and it forms 5 per cent, of the cropped area of the United 

 Provinces of India. 



Maize has been popularly regarded as indigestible ; as a good 

 winter food, but too " heating " for summer use. How these 

 ideas originated it is difficult to say ; they obtain no support 

 either from experimental work nor from the almost universal use 

 made of it in the Southern United States, Mexico, and Mediter- 

 ranean regions. Woods * sums up a discussion on its merits by 

 saying 



" That it is wholesome and well suited to its numerous uses as 

 a food material is abundantly proved by its long-continued use 

 under a great variety of circumstances and conditions, and the 

 high opinion in which it has always been held. Scientific investi- 

 gations have abundantly justified the popular conclusions on the 

 subject." 



Another great advantage of maize is its cheapness. Of all the 

 cereals it provides a greater return in protein, fat, carbohydrates, 

 and energy for the same outlay. 



It seems a pity that greater use is not made of such an excellent 

 and cheap food by the poorer classes in Europe and in the feeding 

 of prisoners in India . The Chinese employ maize very extensively, 

 and on it are able to endure great fatigue, whilst their general 

 physique and stamina reach a high level. 



Of the other cereals utilized as foodstuffs in India that have 

 been investigated barley, juar, bajra, and marna little need 

 be said. They are all much inferior to wheat or maize in their 

 gross chemical constituents, and in the amount of assimilable 

 material they contain. 



Barley (Hordeum vulgare) in India is usually grown mixed 

 with pulses, sometimes with wheat. Both alone and in admix- 

 tures it is generally considered difficult of digestion. It is chiefly 

 used in the form of powder or flour of the parched grain. 



The analyses of Indian barley-meal*)* showed 



Protein . . . . . . . . . . 8-92 per cent. 



Carbohydrates 76-10 



Fat 1-90 



* Woods, "Food Value of Corn Products," Bulletin No. 298, U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



* Scientific Memoirs, Government of India, No. 48. 



