226 ARON. 



it> |)r<)(]iicts Ikim'. uiiilci' llic ])r(_'si'iit a^iicnll iii-al cdiidil ions, no signifi- 

 cance as food protlucts. Occasionally a cavabao may he killed and its 

 meat eaten (hiring a fiesta, but this occurs only very rarely. Chickens 

 and eg'gs are as a I'ule too expensive for the pooicr and middle classes. 



The above facts show that in making a study of the fi.dd and its 

 nutritive value tor these people, one has to consider principally the 

 (piantity of rice and i'lsh eaten daily. The protein material found in 

 the vegetables and fruits can be neglected and the })rotein in the feu- 

 eggs occasionally eaten is too small in amount to be of any importance. 

 However, the caloi'ic \alue oi the sugar aiid the sugar prejiai^arions and 

 of the carlxihydrates found in vegetables and fruits can not be disregarded 

 altogether. This general discussion indicates sufficiently clearly the 

 character of the in(piiries which were made in pursuing this subject. 



Rice is kept o]i hand in nuist of the houses and the ])eople are able 

 to state fairly accurately how much is used daily and also how many 

 days a given amount will last. In measui-ing the ipiantity used, the 

 old Spanish terms gnnias (3 liters) and cliupa.s (0.37.5 liter) are used. 

 In a fcM^ instances only the amount of palay bought at certain intervals 

 in the past is stated. In these cases 2 chnpas of palay have been con- 

 sidered equal to 1 chupa of rice. One chupa of rice costs 3 centavos 

 and 1 chupa of palay 1.5 centavos. It was more difficxilt to obtain 

 similar data regarding the fresh food products which were purchased 

 daily in the markets, because they were not sold in weighed amounts. 



In every household we were ai)le to obtain a fairly accurate idea of 

 the average total amount of money {gasius) spent daily in the market 

 in the purchase of fish, \egetaijles, sugar and cigarettes. It was found 

 necessary to make se]iarate inquiries as to the amount of money spent 

 for fish alone, owing to the important place which this product occupies 

 in the daily diet. Furthcruiore, the number of persons has been ascer- 

 tained who take their uu'als regularly in the household ; these are 

 divided into four grou|)s; adult iiiales. adult females, children (under 

 10 years) and babies (under 10 months). Finally, an attempt was 

 made to gather, by means of tactful incpiiries and a careful observation 

 of the general aspect of the house and its sui'roundings, some idea as 

 to the class of society to which the inmates belonged, their occupation, the 

 extent of their possessions and also the nural)er of domestic animals on 

 the place. Tn(|uiries in twenty-five difi^erent families of all classes of 

 the population of Tavtav gave the fo1lowin<>' residt : 



