192 ALIMENTATION. 



The quantity of solid food necessary to the proper nourishment of the body is shown 

 by estimating the solid matter in the excretions ; and the facts thus ascertained corre- 

 spond very closely with the quantity of material which the system lias been found, to 

 actually demand. The estimates of Pay en, the quantity of carbon and of nitrogenized 

 matter in a dry state being given, are generally quoted and adopted in works on physiol- 

 ogy. According to this observer, the following are the daily losses of the organism : 



Carton (o, its equiva.ent). ... j ^? ><^ \ 4,4 gr , (,0,3 o, a,) 



Nitrogenized substances ...... (with 308-68 grs. of nit.) 2,006-42 grs. ( 4*58 oz. av.) 



6,800-96 grs. (15'51 oz. av.) 



From this he estimates that the normal ration, supposing the food to consist of lean 

 meat and bread, is as follows : 



Nitrogenized substances. Carbon. 



Bread ............. 15,434 grs. (35'27 oz.) = 1,080-38 grs. and 4,630'2 grs. 



Meat .............. 4,412-12 grs. (10*09 oz.) = 930'05 grs. and 485'55 grs. 



19,846-12 grs. (45'36 oz.) 2,010'43 grs. 6,115-75 grs. 



This daily ration, which is purely theoretical, is shown by actual observation to be 

 nearly correct. Prof. Dalton says : " From experiments performed while living on an 

 exclusive diet of bread, fresh meat, and butter, with coffee and water for drink, we have 

 found that the entire quantity of food required during twenty-four hours by a man in 

 full health and taking free exercise in the open air, is as follows : 



Meat .......................................... 16 ounces, or I'OO Ib. avoirdupois. 



Bread ...... ................................... 19 " "1-19" 



Butter or fat ................................... 3 " " 0'22 " " 



Water ......................................... 52 fluid oz. " 3'38 " " 



That is to say, rather less than two and a half pounds of solid food, and rather over 

 three pints of liquid food." 



Bearing in mind the great variations in the nutritive demands of the system in differ- 

 ent persons, it may be stated, in general terms, that, in an adult male, from ten to twelve 

 ounces of carbon and from four to five ounces of nitrogenized matter (estimated dry) 

 are discharged from the organism and must be replaced by the ingesta ; and this de- 

 mands a daily consumption of from two to three pounds of solid food, the quantity of 

 food depending, of course, greatly on its proportion of solid, nutritive principles. 



It is undoubtedly true that the daily ration has frequently been diminished consider- 

 ably below the physiological standard in charitable institutions, prisons, etc. ; but, when 

 there is complete inactivity of body and mind, this produces no other effect than that of 

 slightly diminishing the weight and strength. The system then becomes reduced with- 

 out any actual disease, and there is simply a diminished capacity for labor. But in the 

 alimentation of large bodies of men subjected to exposure and frequently called upon 

 to perform severe labor, the question of food is of vital importance, and the men collec- 

 tively are like a powerful machine in which a certain quantity of material must be fur- 

 nished in order to produce the required amount of force. This important physiological 

 fact is most strikingly exemplified in armies ; and the history of the world presents few 

 examples of warlike operations in which the efficiency of the men has not been impaired 

 by insufficient food. 



The influence of diet upon the capacity for labor was well illustrated by a compari- 

 son of the amount of work accomplished by English and French laborers in 1841, on 

 a railroad from Paris to Kouen. The French laborers engaged on this work were 



