THE PROTEIN METABOLISM OF MANKIND 89 



entirely on meat and regard vegetable food as fit only for animals 

 none of these make use of salt, although there is no scarcity 

 of it in any of these places. 



It will be evident, therefore, that the aboriginal tribes of 

 Chota Nagpur live on a mixed diet, a large part of the protein 

 constituent of which is derived from an animal source. Taking 

 the average of the dietaries investigated, over half the protein 

 is provided by the animal kingdom in one or other form. The 

 following is a fair average of the food consumption : 



Of the total protein about 35 grammes is derived from an 

 animal source. It will be noticed that meat forms a much larger 

 part of the dietary than is the case with the inhabitants of the 

 plains of Bengal. On the other hand, there is a smaller quantity 

 than that found to be present in the dietaries of the hill-tribes 

 of Darjeeling. 



Of the 80 to 85 grammes of protein, 60 grammes are absorbable, 

 which would mean the metabolism of 0-17 grammes per kilo of 

 body weight. This is a considerably higher level of nitrogenous 

 interchange than the Bengali attains, and brings these aborigines 

 up to about the standard of the poorest Nepalese. 



Study 7. A considerable amount of information was collected 

 with regard to the food and dietaries of the fighting castes, of 

 the United Provinces and the Punjab. In these provinces rice 

 is no longer the staple foodstuff, its place being taken to a large 

 extent by wheat amongst the better-fed classes, and by maize 

 and the different millets amongst the poorest classes. As might 

 be expected, the dietaries of the good-fighting tribes are very 

 superior to those of Behar or Lower Bengal. The superiority 

 is largely due to the substitution of wheat and maize for rice. 

 Good-class wheat contains up to almost twice as much protein; 

 as rice, and its protein shows a very much higher coefficient 

 of absorbability. In the food consumption of the races from 



