190 THE PROTEIN ELEMENT IN NUTRITION 



area Indo- Aryan, Aryo-Dravidian, and Mongolo-Dravidian 

 but even amongst those of the same stock there is the same 

 tendency to a lower form of physical endowment as the race 

 is traced down the valleys of the Ganges and Jumna ; that in 

 accordance with this decline in manly characteristics it is of the 

 utmost significance that there is an accompanying gradual fall 

 in the nutritive value of the dietaries, and more especially in 

 the average level of protein metabolism attained by the people 

 of the Punjab, United Provinces, Behar, and Bengal. 



In the Punjab the foodstuffs in common use are the better- 

 class cereals, of which wheat is the most important. Besides 

 these, different varieties of animal food enter largely into the 

 dietaries of the great mass of the population. In the United 

 Provinces wheat is not so much in general use, and animal food 

 is decidedly less frequently consumed as a common article of 

 diet ; this falling off is continued as we get farther from the 

 Punjab, until, in Behar, wheat is replaced to a considerable 

 extent by rice, and in Bengal, rice is almost entirely used to the 

 exclusion of wheat, except in the eastern districts. At the same 

 time the animal content of the dietary becomes greatly 

 diminished. 



We shall now take into consideration the data available from 

 observations on those tribes which supply recruits for the Indian 

 Army. Accepting that the tribes recruited from are superior in 

 physique, courage, boldness, and general manly vigour to the 

 ordinary population, it will be readily admitted that it is of 

 importance to ascertain the dietaries on which this superiority 

 has been attained. If, for instance, it was found that some 

 of our hardiest and best fighting races lived on dietaries of low 

 protein content, we should have to acknowledge that such a 

 finding militated strongly against the views we have set forth 

 on the importance of a high level of protein metabolism ; on the 

 other hand, if with a high degree of physical development and 

 martial qualities an accompanying high level of nutrition is 

 found to be present, other factors being excluded, such a con- 

 dition may be reasonably claimed as evidence in favour of the 

 determining influence of diet on the manly characteristics of a, 

 people. 



