168 M-'CAY. 



In order to obtain definite and precise knowledge as to the effects of 

 diet per se, we have extended our inquiries to different tribes and races in 

 which the several factors enumerated by Doctor Kellogg are common to 

 all, the dietaries forming the main, point of difference. In this way we 

 can eliminate the influence of the sun's rays, early marriages, climate, 

 sexual excess, etc., in fact everything except the role played by diet, or, 

 more particularly, absorbable protein, in the conditions that go to make 

 one class superior to another, or one tribe or race superior to another 

 tribe or race. 



We find the different tribes and races whose characteristics we have 

 been discussing inhabiting the plains extending from the sea opposite 

 Bengal to the base of .the mountains bordering Bengal, the United Prov- 

 inces and the Punjab on the north. Now, all the factors Doctor Kellogg 

 laid stress on are present amongst these people. The climate from Behar 

 to the mountins, north and northwest, is to all intents and purposes the 

 same; early marriages, sexual excesses, actinic rays of the sun, etc., are 

 all even more in evidence than in Bengal ; yet when we come to investigate 

 the different attributes that go to make up a man, we find that there is 

 an ascending scale of physique and manly qualities among the inhabitants 

 extending from Lower Bengal to Behar and from Behar to the Provinces 

 of Agar and Oude. There is an ascending scale of body weight and par- 

 ticularly of the protoplasmic tissues. A decided change in the demeanor 

 and general appearance takes place as we pass from plain to plain, the 

 people becoming brighter, fitter, and more energetic in their movements. 



It may therefore be concluded that diet appears to play the principal 

 part in the formation of the respective characteristics and general bearing 

 of these races. The difference in diet is the substitution of an assimilable 

 form of protein in the shape of nonbulky foodstuffs for a bulky material 

 (rice) of low nutrition value, or, translated into its ultimate effects, the 

 metabolism of 9 grams of nitrogen instead of 6 grams as found in Bengal. 



With regard to the last part of Doctor Kellogg's criticism we may say 

 a few words. 7 



It could not be expected that a person who had never been in India 

 would be in a position to differentiate between the races; so that the 

 inclusion of the Bengali among the great fighting races is, therefore, 

 quite easily understood ; nor would the point call for any comment were 

 it not that true facts afford still further evidence of the important role 

 played by diet. The Bengali has never, in modern times, so far as we 

 are aware, been recruited for the fighting line, and although many 

 regiments are, or were, called Bengal infantry, Bengal cavalry, etc., not 

 a single man carrying a rifle could claim Lower Bengal as his place of 



' "I understand that an Indian regiment made up entirely of natives is the 

 finest lot of people in His Majesty's service." 



