THE PROTEIN METABOLISM OF MANKIND 93 



elements than the milk of the average European women. It is 

 also a well-recognized fact that the protein of human milk tends 

 to decrease in amount as lactation proceeds, and that the milk 

 of the mother does not get richer as the child grows older, but that 

 the increasing demand for nutriment by the growing infant is 

 met by supplying an increased quantity of milk.* It might, 

 therefore, be expected that the lower composition of the Bengali 

 mother's milk would be compensated for by the secretion of 

 larger quantities. Such, however, is not the case. 



The requirements of a healthy infant, as observed by Camerer 

 and Feer, on an average is as follows :* 



1st and 2nd months . . . . 600 grms. daily . . 20 ozs. daily. 



2nd and 4th . . . . 800 . . 27 



5th and 7th , 950 .. 32 



7th and 9th ,, .. .. 1,020 .. 34 ,, 



9th and 12th . . . . 1,150 . . 39 



The average quantity of milk secreted by the European 

 mother being calculated to be 1J to 2 pints daily. In India, 

 from observations on Bengali women, the daily quantity of milk 

 secreted was found to be 1 to 1| pints. The daily requirements 

 of the infant were also tested by careful weightments of the child 

 before and after each feeding, with the following results : 



1st to 2nd months . . . . 400 grms. daily . . 14 ozs. daily. 



2nd to 4th . . . . 600 . . 20 



4th to 6th .. .. 750 ,, ,, . . 27 



6th to 9th .. .. 800 .. 28 



9th to 12th .. 900 to 1,000 ,, ,,30 to 35 



It would appear, therefore, so far as observations in India 

 go, that the Bengali infant is not provided by Nature with as 

 great a quantity of milk, nor with milk reaching the same high 

 standard of chemical composition, as the European infant. 

 This fact would appear to be a provision of Nature in providing 

 a supply of food in accordance with the requirements of the 

 infant. The average weight of the European newly born infant 

 may be taken at 7-4 pounds, whereas the average Bengali new- 

 born infant weighs 5-9 pounds at most. 



The following table")* shows the average weight of new-born 

 infants of European and Indian mothers confined in the Eden 

 Hospital, Calcutta : 



* Hutchison, " Food and the Principles of Dietetics." 



f Leicester, Journal of Obstetrics and Gyncecology, June, 1907. 



