ON PRISON DIET AND DISCIPLINE. 49 



walking exercise during nine hours per weelv, and are all employed in some 

 nianul'acturing occupation, as mat- and matting-making, tailoring, or siioe- 

 niaking. There are not now any of the proper prison punishments, as tlio 

 crank and the treadwheel, used at that gaol. The cells offer a capacity of 

 900 cubic feet, and 35 cubic feet of air per minute for each prisoner, with a 

 mean monthly temperature varying from 56°'9 in March, to 66°'5 in August. 

 The average age of the 4000 prisoners under inquiry was 26^ years, of whom 

 25 per cent, were under 21 years, and were therefore still at the period of 

 growth. 



In reference to duration of imprisonment, Mr. Milner states as follows :— 



" Duration of Lnprisonnient. — I have divided the time of imprisonment 

 at Wakefield into periods of two months each, and have tabulated six of 

 these periods, so as to show the variation of tiie weight of the men during 

 the first twelve months of their stay. (Appendix IV.) I have not carried 

 the table any further, as very few prisoners remained longer than twelve 

 months, and those that were detained beyond that time were chiefly invalids, 

 and, consequently, cases from which no general inferences could be fairly 

 drawn. 



" The table shows the gains and losses in bi-monthly periods, and also the 

 proportion of prisonei-s who had to be placed on the extra diet list, who 

 were first placed on the list during each period. The number placed on 

 extra diet during the first twelve months of their stay, was 1393, out of which 

 number 3'14- per cent, were put on during the first two months, and 12'31 

 ])er cent, during the second two months. 



" The stage of their imprisonment had evidently a very marked effect. 

 During the first two months the majority gained weight; in the second 

 bi-monthly period a large loss occurred, equal to nearly twice the amount 

 gained in the first period; in the third period there was still a loss, but not 

 to so great an amount ; the next three periods show a steadily increasing 

 gain. 



" For a due understanding of these fluctuations, it is necessary to consider 

 the circumstances under which prisoners are received into this prison. They 

 are all brought from other prisons after having been tried and sentenced to 

 various periods of transportation, or penal servitude ; they have consequently 

 passed through the period of anxiety which elapses between committal and 

 trial, during which time, I have reason to think, men often fall off very much 

 in condition and health. When we receive them their fate is decided, and 

 they know the worst. In a large proportion of cases, I believe this is fol- 

 lowed by a feeling of relief and by a reaction of the mind against the de- 

 pression under which it had previously been suffering ; later on, the con- 

 tinued imprisonment begins to tell and it becomes necessary to give extra 

 diet to counteract its depressing tendency. A reference to the tables shows 

 tiiat it was tliought necessary to give extra diet to a large number of prisoners 

 during the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth months. Tlie number of pri- 

 soners who were placed on the extra diet list for the first time during these 

 four months, was nearly twenty-one per cent, of the prisoners in confinement, 

 and 60 per cent, of the whole number who were put on extra diet during 

 ihe twelvemonths. 



" The effect of this addition to the diet is shown by the gradual and pro- 

 gressive improvement during the last three bi-monthly pciiods, when the 

 amount gained, added to the gain of the first period, nearly restored the 

 equilibrium of tiie mass. 



" Prison Employment.— In Appendix V. the employments of the prisoners 

 •are distributed into five groups, putting into each group the classes of work- 



