34 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



dietaries are framed on the results of chemical analyses alone, and 

 little or no account taken of the absorption possible from the 

 different foodstuffs. This may not be a matter of first import- 

 ance when dealing with the high-class food materials made use 

 of in Europe and America, or where an animal protein forms a 

 substantial part of the nitrogenous intake, but it is of very real 

 importance in the dieting of bodies of men with the vegetable 

 foodstuffs of India and the tropics generally. Many of the 

 dietaries framed for prisoners, famine camps, soldiers, etc., in 

 India have been worked out from the gross chemical composition, 



ABSORBABILITY OF DIFFERENT FOODS. 



so as to reach a certain standard, whilst no allowance was made 

 for the fact that the absorption of the most important element, 

 protein, from Indian vegetable food materials may be, and 

 is in the majority of cases, very poor indeed. It is therefore of 

 the greatest importance to know what the relative absorption is 

 from the different types of foodstuffs in order that a clear 

 conception may be formed of the real nutritive value of a food, 

 and that in arranging dietaries they may be framed on their real 

 worth, and not merely on their gross or apparent value. 



Within comparatively recent years a great deal of work has 

 been done in Europe and America with a view of ascertaining the 



