Diet, Nutrition and Excretion of the Asiatic 

 Races in Singapore. 



No. 1, Medical Students. 



By J. Argyll Campbell. 



Introduction. 



This research was undertaken in order to supply the local 

 medical students with necessary information. Up to a short time 

 ago the physiology of diet, nutrition and excretion which was placed 

 before these students, was that of an European. The facts and 

 figures which hold for an European are far from the truth when 

 applied to an Asiatic. The results published in this paper have 

 heen obtained during the six months from October, 1916, to March, 

 1917, and although they are not considered to be more than an 

 introduction to the subject they do form a basis to work upon 

 when dealing with local Asiatic patients, whereas the European 

 figures are certainly misleading. It is the intention of the author 

 to continue this research for an indefinite period employing re- 

 presentatives of all classes and of all races of the community. 

 "These results apply to individuals leading sedentary lives similar 

 to that of a medical student. 



Technique. 



There are Tamils, Malays, Chinese, Brahmins and Eurasians 

 -at the Medical School. One Tamil, one Chinese, and one Brahmin 

 representative have been under observation every Monday, Wednes- 

 day and Friday for six months. A Malay has been employed for 

 •only two weeks. He partakes of the same diet as the Tamil. His 

 results although few in number are interesting in that they con- 

 firm the results obtained from the Tamil. Eesults obtained at 

 random from many other medical students confirm the results 

 obtained from the students who have been under observation for six 

 months. 



The Tamil and Malay representatives live in the school hostel. 

 The Chinese and the Brahmin live in their own homes. The 

 Chinese, Brahmin and Tamil are senior students and rank amongst 

 the most successful at the school. They have been demonstrators 

 and class assistants for over a year. The author is indebted to 

 them for their faithful co-operation. 



•Jour. Straits Branch R. A. Soc, No. 76, 1917. 



