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



obtained, and which would seem to be most suitable to serve as standards for the 

 construction of Indian jail dietaries, are those of the labouring prisoners in the convict 

 and local jails of England. The diets which are in use in these two classes of prisons 

 have, with trifling modifications, been in force for many years, and not only have 

 they been reported upon most favourably by various Eoyal Commissions (some of 

 the most recent of whose reports have been cited in a previous chapter), but the 

 extremely favourable mortuary returns, extending over a long series of years, testify 

 in the most unqualified manner to the general correctness of the opinions expressed 

 by the Commissioners. Full details regarding these dietaries have already been given, 

 but a summarized statement of the nutritive value of the principal forms may be 

 reproduced here with advantage. 



Nutritive value of the principal dietaries at present in force for labouring 



prisoners in English Jails. 



76. The nutritive value of the maximum scales in force in the two classes of 

 prisons is very nearly equal, but it is probable that, notwithstanding the slight 

 inferiority of the maximum scale in Convict Prisons, as compared with that of 

 the Local Prisons when estimated from chemical analyses, the dietary would be 

 preferred by persons accustomed to animal food, seeing that it consists of an average 

 daily allowance of 4^ oz. of meat, whereas the average of the daily allowance in 

 Local Prisons is only about half this quantity — nitrogenous material in the latter case 

 being made up by a correspondingly larger allowance of oatmeal and by an addition 

 of peas to the dietary. Of the 270 grains of nitrogen contained in this scale, only 39 

 grains are derived from animal food. That rations containing so small an amount of 

 meat should be associated with such favourable health statistics in a flesh-eating race, 

 is worthy of notice, and especially so in that the dietary is found to be compatible 

 with the exaction of even very hard labour. The proportion of the nitrogenous to the 

 carbonaceous principles is much smaller than that contained in the ordinarily proposed 



