8f)(> RATIONS OF BRITISH AND GERMAN SOLDIERS. 



which contain 2lbs. 10 oz. of carbon and hydro- 

 gen for the support of respiration. But if we 

 add together the flour, peas, rice, sugar, and 

 cocoa, they will make 1 1 Ibs. of vegetable aliment, 

 which contains 50 per cent, of carbon and hydro- 

 gen, or 5*5 Ibs., making in all 14 Ibs. 8 oz. of 

 nourishment per week, independent of spirits, 

 and 8 Ibs. 2oz. of carbon and hydrogen. 



From which it follows, that a British soldier 

 consumes daily about 2 Ibs. 1 oz. of solid animal 

 and vegetable food, which contains 1 Ib. 2oz. of 

 carbon and hydrogen, consequently that in the 

 course of a year his allowance of aliment amounts 

 to 754 Ibs., of which 422 Ibs. consist of carbon 

 and hydrogen, leaving 334 Ibs. of oxygen, nitro- 

 gen, sulphur, phosphorus, and salts. 



In accordance with the above facts, we are 

 informed by Liebig, that the German soldiers 

 belonging to a company of the body guard of the 

 Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt, consumed daily 

 as much animal and vegetable food as afforded 

 13-9 oz. of carbon, independent of hydrogen, which 

 must have amounted to about 2 oz., making in 

 all 15-9 oz.* He has also proved, that so long as 

 the body does not increase in weight, all the 



* But this far exceeds the daily consumption of the civil 

 population in any part of Europe. Liebig states, that in a 

 family of his acquaintance, consisting of five adults and four 

 children of different ages, the average quantity of carbon in their 

 daily food was 9 '5 oz. And I have related the case of a family, 



