THE PROTEIN METABOLISM OF MANKIND 



83 



cent, of the total protein, is all that could be expected ; this 

 would mean a loss of 1-5 grammes of nitrogen in the faeces daily, 

 which was exactly the quantity found to be present by actual 

 experiment on the two medical assistants in 1907. The answer, 

 therefore, to Chittenden's question would be that the results 

 obtained from observations on the dietaries of the people have 

 a very distinct bearing on the merits or demerits of a low protein 

 intake, as, judging from the actual amount of nitrogen present 

 in the faeces, these dietaries, in contradistinction to the ordinary 

 gaol dietary, are not examples of an "unbalanced, unphysiological 

 ration." 



It is of more than ordinary interest in this connection to 

 examine the data* derived from a lengthy experiment on six 

 sub j ects in Chittenden's laboratory. These were brought forward 

 by him at the meeting of the British Medical Association as proof 

 that, with a well-balanced ration and the use of foodstuffs that 

 are reasonably digestible and free from excessive waste, the merits 

 of a low protein dietary become self-evident, and particularly 

 that the defects he condemns in the Bengali diet viz., a large 

 mass of fermentable matter in the intestines provocative of 

 diseased conditions would be at a minimum. 



The experiment was made with six laboratory assistants, 

 and lasted 130 days, during which time the intake of nitrogen 

 in the food and the output in the urine and faeces were deter- 

 mined daily by actual analyses. The data he gives are as follows ; 

 the table shows the averages per day for each subject during the 

 entire period : 



The first point to draw attention to is that if columns 4 and 

 5 are correct, column 6 cannot be right. It would appear prob- 

 able that the figures given for the output of metabolized nitrogen 



* British Medical Journal, 1911, vol. ii., p. 660. 



