TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 107 



it distinctly betore the attention of this Section, and shall be glad if it should 

 attract the attention of the press, and of gentlemen engaged in the duty of training 

 the young. 



I would also add a word in reference to the monitors and others found in normal 

 training schools and national schools. The duties which devolve upon the master 

 or mistress of a national school in giving extra and special instruction to the monitors, 

 apart from the ordinary duties of the school, excite a most prejudicial eitect upon 

 the appetite for and digestion of food, by limiting too much the period allowed for 

 exercise, and extending too fai- the time devoted to brain-work and the period 

 of I'espiring warm and foul air. The monitors themselves are, lioweA'er, the greater 

 sufferers, for they are younger, and are still at a period of life when the evils just 

 refen'ed to exert a tenfold influence. Moreover they are always the children of 

 the poor, and were iU-fed in earlier years, and upon this basis have undertaken a 

 new set of duties, which withdraw them from the fresh air, and supplant musciUar 

 exertion by mental strain ; and, at the same time, they have an income so small, 

 that it does not suihce for them to obtain nourishment at all adequate to the re- 

 quirements of mental labom' and of bodily growth. I have had my attention drawn to 

 this class of persons in a painfid way in connexion with the occurrence of consump- 

 tion, and I should be glad if public attention could be drawn to their condition. 



A consideration of the dietary of the general community must have regard to 

 two classes at least, viz. the well-fed middle and higher classes, and the moderately 

 fed or ill-fed labouring classes ; but time wnll not allow me to refer to the former 

 further than to otter a few observations on "Bantiugism," whilst I shall describe 

 the latter in some detail. 



The attention which has recently been called to Bantingism has, I think, been 

 advantageous to the commimity, by showing the effects which flow from a regida- 

 tion of dietary, and by gaining the confidence of the public in the science of the 

 question. The names of the components of food are now far more widely known 

 tlian before, and we may almost assume that all persons know the difference between 

 carbon and nitrogen in their vdtimate use in the animal sj'stem. I am not here 

 concerned with the medical question, as to whether it is desirable to reduce the 

 bulk of a given individual^a circunistance which must always be left to the judg- 

 ment of the medical man in charge of the case ; but I feel compelled to state, that 

 it would be an evil to this nation, both physically and mentally, if the system of 

 reduction were to become at all general ; and that, on the contrary, regarding the 

 whole popidation, we need to add to, rather than take from, the' weight of the 

 body. I would also add my experience as a physician, that even in the well-fed 

 classes I have seen very serious diminution of both bodily and mental vigour follow 

 the working out of the plan. 



Omitting, therefore, any reference to the question of health, and considering the 

 subject scientifically, we must admit that in a fidl-fed and fat man the fat and 

 fluids of the body may be lessened, and the whole bulk and weight proportionally 

 reduced by this system, and that upon principles which have long been well esta- 

 blished. The whole plan is to reduce the carbon or fat- forming elements in the 

 food to a point much below the daily wants of the system, so that a portion of the 

 fat ah-eady in the body may be consumed daily, whilst at the same time the nitro- 

 genoiis elements are supplied with at least their usual abundance. This is effected 

 by vdthholding separated fats, as butter and the fat of meat, and by very gi-eatly 

 restricting the analogous food, starch, which enters largely into the composition of 

 flom- and all gi-ains. The supposed necessity for giving a very large supply of meat 

 is based upon incorrect reasoning, aud in reality is owing to the fact" that the 

 carbon which is foimd associated with the nitrogen in lean flesh is required from 

 the too great reduction which has been made in the sugar, fat, and starch in other 

 food. For the purpose in hand it is more consistent with sense and science to 

 allow the usual variety of food, but to limit the total daily amount of it, so that 

 the quantity of carbon shall be in defect of the daily wants, and the quantity of 

 nitrogen remain as before. There is no necessity for the absolute excision of fat 

 and sugar, and the extreme reduction in the quantity of bread, any more than for 

 the great increase in the quantity of meat. The bulk of the body may be reduced. 



