DIET, NUTRITION AND EXCRETION 63 



amount of nitrogen, whereas the Chinese has the lowest coefficient 

 because he excretes the largest amount of nitrogen. 



Other Researches in the Tropics. 



I am able to compare my results with those of two other ob- 

 servers. McCay has worked on the diet and nutrition of students 

 in Bengal. He has found that the Bengali students take a smaller 

 proportion of protein food than the Anglo-Indian students who are 

 attending the same college. In opposition- to Chittenden's views 

 he attributes the better physique and greater muscular energy of 

 the Anglo-Indian students to this fact. The Bengali student, who 

 averages 115 lbs. in weight eats 67 grammes of protein, only a 

 small quantity of which is obtained from animal sources, 72 of 

 fat and 549 of carbohydrate. This diet has a heat value of 3196 

 kilocalories. The Anglo-Indian student eats 95 grammes of pro- 

 tein, a big proportion of which comes from animal sources, 56 of 

 fat and 467 of carbohydrate. Although the Bengali eats a smaller 

 amount of protein than the European, he is quite susceptible to 

 kidney troubles (4). One is not justified in concluding that excess 

 of protein is not harmful to the kidney, because there may be reasons 

 to explain the kidney disease in the Bengali which are at present 

 unknown. It is quite evident to physicians that the larger the 

 amount of waste substance to be excreted by the kidney the more 

 is the kidney taxed. In treating kidney disease there is no doubt 

 that cutting down the protein excretion eases the kidney. 



Aron (5) has made observations on Filipino students, with 

 an average weight of about 115 lbs. They require 75 grammes of 

 protein, 25 of fat and 510 of carbohydrate. This diet gives 2632 

 kilocalories (Table II). 



Commentary. 



As far as my experiments go they show that the medical 

 students of Singapore require less food than the students of Bengal 

 and the Phillipines (Table II). Probably this is due to the 

 climates. In Singapore, Calcutta and Manila, the students wear 

 the same tropical clothes, at least during the hot seasons. There- 

 fore we can exclude the influence of clothes. Singapore has practi- 

 cally no seasonal change throughout the whole } r ear; the tempera- 

 ture varies only slightly, the mean being 80 °F. At Manila in the 

 Phillipines there is some seasonal change, the months of Novem- 

 ber, December, January and February having a temperate climate. 

 Bengal enjoys a winter. Again the humidity of the atmosphere 

 is greater in Singapore than in Manila and much greater than in 

 Calcutta. The climatic conditions in Singapore, therefore, are more 

 likely to prevent the body losing heat, so that less food is required 

 to keep up the body heat. The average weight in all three cases 

 is about the same. The Singapore students do not take much 

 muscular exercise. This is another probable cause of their small 



E. A. Soc, No. 76, 1917. 



