136 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



ment was brought against them by members who had had prac- 

 tical experience of their ill- effects. A committee was appointed 

 to examine and report on their adequacy, with the result that 

 they were condemned, and new scales considerably more liberal 

 were introduced. 



It was clearly proved that Diets 1 and 2 were absolutely 

 insufficient to satisfy the pangs of hunger, and were injurious to 

 health, as indicated by a loss of weight. Many suffered from 

 gastro-intestinal disturbances, thus conforming with the experi- 

 ences of Munk and Rosenheim when feeding dogs on a low protein 

 dietary. In this connection it may be pointed out that intestinal 

 disorders are exceedingly prevalent in India ; but they are very 

 much more common amongst the rice-eating, protein-starved 

 populace than amongst those whose dietary contains some of the 

 superior cereals. 



Evidence was produced to show that prisoners would go to 

 almost any extreme to satisfy the pangs of hunger. Men would 

 gather and eat snails, eat the putrid marrow of bones, pick up 

 fragments of candles, purposely made offensive so as not to be 

 eaten, wipe them with their clothes, and eat them. These were 

 the immediate effects of diets Chittenden believes amply suffi- 

 cient ; the remote consequences were probably still more glaring 

 and far-reaching. The number who left the prisons perma- 

 nently broken in health as the results of dietetic privation and 

 impaired nutrition will never come to light, but we are justified 

 in assuming, in the light of the recognized influence of privation 

 in predisposing to tuberculosis, that many on this account fell 

 victims to the tubercle bacillus. 



One of the most valuable studies of prison dietaries is that 

 made by Dr. J. C. Dunlop for the Prison Commission of Scotland. 

 His standards are based on careful investigations carried out 

 on scientific lines, and upon actual experience have been found 

 satisfactory. Starting with the amount of food necessary to 

 nourish the body, the quantity is modified according to the 

 different conditions of the individuals to be fed. The more 

 important dietaries are given in the table on p. 137. 



Dr. Dunlop found that prisoners, when reduced below 3,500 

 calories of food energy per day, 82 per cent, of those of average 

 size lost weight. 



In France the prison dietary provides 



Protein 94 grins. ] 



Carbohydrates 374 ' r 2,074 calories, 



Fat .- 22 .. J 



