48 REPORT 1861. 



of system which exists, he will need to present nearly as many reports as 

 there are gaols to be reported upon. 



SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES. 



The Committee now proceed to consider the effect of prison discipline 

 over the bodily functions of the prisoners, and will include in their report 

 the result of the inquiries made by them into the variation of the weight of 

 the prisoners, the excretion of nitrogen and carbon, the quantity of air in- 

 spired, and the rate of pulsation and respiration. 



Variation in Weight. 



The value of weight as an indication of the healthfulness and vigour of 

 the body is one of a very general character only, and, when applied to test 

 the effects of any agent over a number of men relatively to each other, is of 

 little worth until all the men have been brought into nearly the same bodily 

 condition. The weight of the body is due to many circumstances of very 

 different values, as, for example, to the contained food and excretions, the 

 amount of fluid in the circulation and in the tissues, the deposited fat, and 

 to the size of the bones, quite apart from the nitrogenous elements to which 

 reference is essentially made when an estimation is attempted of the vigour 

 and healthfulness of men. Many of these elements can never be truthfully 

 estimated ; but in prison discipline it has been ascertained that some of them 

 are removed during the earlier periods of imprisonment — as, for example, fat 

 and superfluous fluid ; and, with the reduction in weight which follows, the 

 body gains a higher relative nitrogenous composition. 



When, therefore, the body has been so reduced in weight by the labour 

 and discipline enforced, the condition of the men may be compared with 

 greater truthfulness, and weight will be a fair index of the vigour and health- 

 fulness of the system. Hence, whilst investigations into the influence of 

 prison discipline over the weight of the prisoners must be regarded as of 

 great value, they must give place in importance to such as determine the 

 influence of the discipline over each separate function ol the organism. 



Much difference of opinion exists in gaols as to the value of the test of 

 weight, and in many it is so lightly esteemed that it is not applied at all. In 

 other gaols it is usual to weigh the prisoners on entrance and discharge ; and 

 in a few the weight is taken monthly ; but in none is it effected with such 

 rigorous exactitude as to fit the results for the use of the physiologist. It 

 is manifest that the weighings should be made before breakfast, and after 

 emitting the excretions, and also that the prisoner should be weighed naked, 

 or the clothes be weighed apart and the weight of them deducted carefully 

 on each occasion ; for otherwise the former will lead to an error of 2 lbs. in 

 either direction, and the latter to an error of a smaller amount, even if the 

 external clothing be the same on each occasion. This, however, is not at- 

 tended to in any gaol, but the prisoners are weighed at various hours, and a 

 standard weight is allowed for the clothes. 



Mr. Milner has investigated this subject during a period of more than ten 

 years, including several thousands of prisoners, and embracing the questions 

 of duration of imprisonment, employment, season, and others of a subordi- 

 nate importance; and to these the Committee will now refer. Appendix III. 



The diet on the convict side at the Wakefield House of Correction is 

 liberal and uniform, consisting of 20 ozs. of bread, 4 ozs. of cooked beef, 

 ^ pint of soup, 1 lb. of potatoes, | pint of skimmed milk, and 2 ozs. of oat- 

 meal. The dress is sufficiently warm. The prisoners have running and 



