1 64 m'cay. 



standards, and, so far as they- went, we freely admitted that the protein 

 metabolism of the Bengali confirmed and corroborated his opinion. 4 It 

 was when we tried to judge the effects of this dietary on the physical 

 development of the race, the capacity of its individuals for manual labor, 

 the condition of their blood and' tissues, and, above all, their resisting 

 power to disease and infection, that we were forced to part company from 

 Chittenden and from the views he holds regarding the beneficial effects of 

 a reduction of protein in the daily diet of mankind. 



We showed the miserable standard of the Bengali's physical devel- 

 opment, seemingly to be attributed to the low scale of protein absorption 

 possible from their diet, by observations on students, prisoners, servants, 

 and by an analysis of the records of the physical development of Bengali 

 and Anglo-Indian students in the same college, under the same climatic 

 conditions, doing the same work, but on a different diet. Without 

 entering into any details of the work carried out on these lines, we may 

 state that from the evidence brought forward, while admitting that it 

 was quite possible for an individual or the members of a whole race to 

 live on a metabolism of 6 grams of nitrogen daily, the results of this 

 small intake on their general well-being, health, physical development, 

 resistance to infection, and immunity fi - om kidney disease 6 were not 

 such as to confirm a belief in the sufficiency of Chittenden's standards. 

 According to his views the metabolism of 0.12 gram of nitrogen per 

 kilo of body weight is all that is necessary for the protein requirements 

 of the body, which is practically the figure we obtained for the Bengali. 



What are the effects on the physical development and general well- 

 being of the people having this low level of nitrogenous interchange? 

 The diet in Lower Bengal consists practically of rice and dal or pulse. 

 It is an exceedingly bulky food when cooked, and, in order to provide for 

 even the lowest limits of protein metabolism, a very large quantity has 

 to be consumed; so large, as we have found, that the actual bulk inter- 

 feres with its absorption. 



The work on the Bengali showed, with regard to the chemical analysis 

 of the blood, a higher percentage of water and a lower percentage of total 

 solids and protein; the haemoglobin was markedly reduced (about 75 per 

 cent) and the blood pressure was on a distinctly lower level than that found 

 among the Anglo-Indian students. We found that the results of these 

 conditions were markedly to modify the physiological requirements of 

 nutrition, and to a considerable extent to affect the growth and power of 

 muscular contraction of the average individual, whose nitrogenous tissues 

 are not given the option of drawing their nutritive material from so rich 

 a source as more favored individuals do, nor have they the same op- 

 portunity of obtaining as free a supply of oxygen. We concluded from 



'Sci. Mem. Off. Med. d San. Kept. Calcutta (1908), No. 34, 7, 8, 25, 28, 52. 

 ° A point on which Chittenden lays great stress. 



