668 



Dietaries of Labouring Prisoners in Indian Jails. [part iv. 



It will be perceived that they are virtually the same as those which were in 

 force in Bengal from 1860 to 1879, except that fish (or an equivalent in milk) 

 is given daily instead of four times a week. The Assamese and Bengali prisoners re- 

 ceive the equivalent of 223 grains of nitrogen, and the Beharis 273. An ounce of 

 fat is contained in the daily ration of the former, and a little over an ounce in that 

 of the latter. The scales furnish a more liberal dietary than is laid down in the 

 " adapted " English Prison scale ; indeed, the Assam scale for Beharis yields 3 grains 

 of nitrogen more than is given as a maximum dietary to prisoners in local prisons in 

 England, and 10 grains more than the maximum allowed to men undergoing penal 

 servitude in English Convict Prisons ; so that the remarks made by the Chief 

 Commissioner of Assam in his review of the Jail Eeport for 1880, that " the scale of 

 the province does not err on the side of severity," are more than supported by the evi- 

 dence which the history of English Prison dietaries affords. 



53. That the scale of diet which has been computed for men of an average weight 

 of 110 lbs. on the basis of the English Local Prison scales (para. 25) is sufficient to 

 maintain prisoners in a state of good health and is compatible with the exaction of 

 hard labour, is, at least so far as the nitrogenous elements are concerned, amply sup- 

 ported by the facts furnished by the history of jails in Burma. Formerly the 

 mortality in these jails was very high. In 1879 and again in 1880 the death-rate 

 was lower than in any province under the Grovernment of India. In the Local Jail 

 Eeport for 1 880, it is stated that, judged by the death-rate, the health of the convicts 

 has been better than it has ever been before — 23*4 per mille, which is the lowest on 

 record : — 



The nutritive value of the dietary for labouring prisoners in British Burma 

 omd of the Adapted English Local Prison scales. 



