LOW PROTEIN DIETARY IN THE TROPICS 169 



health conditions of the classes who are able to afford such 

 provision for the future. These classes are, of course, drawn 

 from those who are in affluent circumstances, or who are in 

 receipt of a steady income more than sufficient to cover the 

 ordinary expenses of family life. As would be expected, they 

 belong to the middle classes, who are above indigence, and the 

 well-to-do people that is, the very people who can afford to 

 live on a liberal diet. We have given in Chapter IV., Dietary 

 Study 3, some idea of the food of these classes, and reference 

 to the facts will show that the diets are well supplied with 

 assimilable protein amongst the better classes, reaching the 

 almost universal average of 100 grammes of protein in the daily 

 food. 



The facts supplied by Dr. Caddy's paper on over 6,000 cases 

 personally examined, afford a good means of comparing the 

 physical development of those who are properly fed with the 

 average Bengali who lives on the lower limits of protein meta- 

 bolism. 



Dr. Caddy's results show that 



1. The average height of the assurable Bengali is practically 

 identical with those of the poorest physique in England. " Not- 

 withstanding this, the insured Bengali is always considered to 

 be a select person among the whole race, the vast majority of 

 natives in India being quite uninsurable owing to their poverty 

 and illiteracy." 



2. The average weight for height corresponds very closely 

 to the European standard for Europeans in India, though con- 

 siderably less than that for Europeans in Europe, as indicated by 

 Kobertson's or Hutchison's tables. 



It follows from this that the bony frame of the assurable 

 Bengali is only slightly lighter per unit of height than that of 

 the European a very different condition from that which 

 obtains amongst the average working- classes of Bengal. 



Thus, from data derived from over 30,000 weighments of 

 Bengalis, the average weight was found to be 50J kilos, whilst 

 the average height over a similar number of measurements 

 was 5 feet 4 inches (prisoners) to 5 feet 5J inches (students). 

 That is, whilst the height approximates fairly closely to the 

 stature of the poorer classes of Europeans, the average weight 

 is 25 to 30 per cent, below the European or American 

 standard. 



