PROTEIDS. 



133 



TABLE V. The "Garrison" Ration, with the usual Proportions 

 of Fresh and Salted Meats and Vegetables. 



The table on page 134 shows the chemical composition and 

 nutrient value of these foods. 



Until the Spanish-American War the United States had no 

 occasion to provide a ration especially adapted to the soldier in the 

 tropics, and as a result it is conceded that the present ration is 

 inadequate to his needs. A court of inquiry appointed to investi- 

 gate the character of the food issued to the troops during the war 

 with Spain reported that " it seems to be clearly established that 

 the army ration as supplied, without modification, to the troops 

 serving in the West Indies, was by no means well adapted for use 

 in a tropical climate." 



A most admirable essay on the subject of " The Ideal Ration 

 for an Army in the Tropics," written by Captain E. L. Munson, 

 Surgeon in the United States Army, and to which was awarded a 

 prize, appeared in the Journal of the Military Service Institution of 

 the United States for May, 1900, to which our readers are referred 

 for an excellent and exhaustive consideration of the subject of diet 

 in hot countries. From this essay we desire to make some quotations. 



Dr. Munson concludes " that the present United States Army 

 ration is made up of admirably selected articles in more than suf- 

 ficient variety, and that it is not only wholly unnecessary, but 

 quite inadvisable to consider any nutritive substances outside those 

 articles legally established as components of the food for the 

 United States soldier. He thinks, however, that the proportion 

 in which these are issued should be materially altered. The diet- 

 aries which he recommends are given on pages 135 and 136. 



