LOW PROTEIN DIETARY IN THE TROPICS 153 



It was not, however, until evidence that appears absolutely 

 convincing had been accumulated, that we unwillingly resigned 

 our belief in Chittenden's deductions. His doctrine would be, 

 for many reasons, a most comfortable belief to hold ; it is not 

 necessary to enter into details of its numerous conveniences, but, 

 from an official standpoint, it would be of immense importance 

 to the State. In a country like India, where everything is on a 

 huge scale, the economy in the feeding of prisoners, famine camps, 

 plague camps, hospitals, and even armies in the field, with 

 their crowds of followers, to be effected by the acceptance of 

 Chittenden's standard would amount to very large sums, suffi- 

 cient to fill the heart of any Chancellor of the Exchequer with 

 delight. 



It was, therefore, with many feelings of regret that we even- 

 tually turned from our original faith in the sufficiency of dietaries 

 low in protein to become firm believers in a doctrine diametrically 

 opposed. 



When the average inhabitant of Bengal is dispassionately 

 examined from the standpoint of physique, health, resistance 

 to disease, and general manly characteristics, it became very 

 evident that other things had to be considered besides a nitrogen 

 balance and the mere fact of existence. What Hutchison 

 terms " degrees of health," and Waller " the state ot nutrition," 

 must not be lost sight of. The former author states that a survey 

 of mankind will show that races which adopt dietaries deficient 

 in protein are lacking in energy. " Energy, however, is not to 

 be confused with muscular strength. A grass-fed cart-horse 

 is strong ; a corn-fed hunter is energetic. Energy is a property 

 of the nervous system, strength of the muscles. Muscles give 

 us the power to work ; the nervous system gives us the initiative 

 to start it. ... If protein food, therefore, be regarded as a nervous 

 food, a diet rich in it will make for intellectual capacity and 

 bodily energy, and it is not without reason that the more energetic 

 races of the world have been meat-eaters." 



If this view is correct, then the Bengali, who lives largely on a 

 vegetarian diet of poor protein value, should exhibit these 

 characteristics to a marked degree. In the following pages we 

 shall discuss the evidence on the ill -effects to be expected from 

 existence on a low level of nitrogenous metabolism. Before 

 doing so, however, it will be of interest to cite the opinions of 

 some well-known authorities. 



