ON PRISON DIET AND DISCIPLINE. 51 



'Return* above referred to, it will not be possible for the Committee to 

 discuss this influence satisfactorily. 



" The only returns in relerence to treadwheel labour which have been 

 obtained are given in the Appendix (VI.), and have been kindly furnished 

 by the governor of the Wakefield House of Correction ; but they comprehend 

 only a small number of prisoners, for the use of that instrument was discon- 

 tinued in consequence of the serious loss of weight which it occasioned. 



" The average loss of weight was 263 lbs. per man during the first week's 

 labour, 4'57 lbs. at the end of the second week, 6 lbs. at the end of the 

 third week, and 7"7 lbs. at the end of the fourth week. The progressive de- 

 clension in weight with duration of labour is very striking ; but it must not 

 be presumed that it would be continued indefinitely, since a point must be at 

 length reached vvhen the weight would be so reduced that it will remain 

 nearly stationary ; and the time required to arrive at that point will vary with 

 the fulness of the body, the tone of the tissues, the nature of the dietary, and 

 the severity of the labour. The greatest loss of weight always occurs in the 

 earlier weeks of imprisonment. 



" Affe, Weight, and Season. — On the subordinate questions of age, 

 weight, and the season of the year, Mr. Milner found that those prisoners 

 who were at the period of growth did not grow according to the scale ob- 

 served in others more favourably circumstanced, but lost weight in an in- 

 creasing ratio; so that, conversely, he found that the decrease in the virtual 

 loss of weight occurred as the age increased. The prisoners gained weight 

 from March or April to August or September, and lost in the winter months. 

 The loss of Aveight of the prisoners varied as the height ; so that the taller 

 men required an increased quantity of extra food. Appendix VII., VIII., 

 and IX. 



" Summary. — On summing up the whole question it was found that, with 

 the arrangements of that prison, which were more favourable than the ave- 

 rage of prisons both in dietary and punishment, there was an average loss 

 on the whole weighings, although 3635 of 4000 men were under forty 

 years of age." 



From the foregoing tables and remarks it will appear that the weight of 

 prisoners is much below that of persons of the same age and height in a 

 state of freedom, and also that loss of weight during imprisonment is the 

 normal condition of prison discipline. , 



This result doubtless depends partly upon the relation of food and exer- 

 tion, and partly upon the inability of the system to assimilate the ordinary 

 food of mankind with a rapidity sufficient to meet the wants induced by 

 constant and great labour. The Committee do not purpose on the present 

 occasion to consider the question of the exact amount of food required to 

 meet the wants of the prisoners ; but as in the foregoing remarks reference 

 has been frequently made to the necessity of giving extra diet in order to 

 avert loss of weight, it is deemed right to introduce two interesting facts 

 which came under Mr. Milner's observation. 



Effect of Milk. — The effect of milk in arresting loss of weight was most 

 striking, and in a degree far beyond that of the relation of its nutritive 

 elements to the waste of the system. Thus the addition upon his recom- 

 mendation of only \ pint of skimmed milk, containing not more than 7 grs. 

 of nitrogen, to the daily dietary, was followed by a reduction in the extra 

 diets from 22*55 per cent, in 1853 to 15'08 per cent, in the first nine months 

 after the additions in 1854, 15-27 in 1855, 14-08 per cent, in 1856, to 9-56 

 per cent, in 1857. As the extra diets represent the cases permanently losing 

 Weight, it is manifest that milk was the proper remedy to meet the loss, and 



e2 



