S3° 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [February i, i88«j. 
little observation to satisfy one that the inhabi- 
tants of the Wanni are surrounded by the mOst 
unhealthy influences. Long periods of drought 
lead to the use of water, for drinking and other 
purposes, which would nauseate ordinary stomachs, 
and to the absolute neglect of personal cleanliness. 
The bodies and clothes of the people are filthy 
in the extreme. The huts in which they live are 
close and oonfined, and no doubt favour the spread 
of the disease. Water is obtained from tanks, the 
area of which is large, but the depth of water 
small. These tanks not only supply drinking water ; 
but people bathe in them, and herds of buffaloes 
lie in them during the heat of the day. The 
water consequently is thick and muddy, full of 
organic matter, and, if kept for a little time, 
decomposes and becomes offensive. Insufficient 
food, or the use of unwholesome food, is another 
source of the depravation of the blood, which 
probably plays its part in the production of the 
disease. The people themselves term several articles 
of diet ordinarily consumed by them kiranti food. 
.Although I am not able to speak from 
muoh experience, I believe there is no reason to 
doubt the nutritive qualities of kurakkan ; but I 
suspect the people are right in thinking that it 
is heating, and that it lays the foundation of 
disorders of the digestive organs and of the skin, 
a result attributed also to the constant use of 
oatmeal and other farinaceous food." 
Prom the preceding extract, it will be seen that 
my opinion regarding parangi disease is that it is 
due to a combination of causes, and not simply 
to the use of a particular kind of food. It is, 
however, certain that the food of the people is 
both insufficient and unvariable. As regards diet, 
variety is a important as the nutritive quality of 
food substances, and the constant use of an article 
may lead to injurious consequences. Dr. Johnson 
defined oats as "a grain which in England iB 
generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports 
the people," and the happy retort was made 
" Where else will you see such horses and such men ?" 
I believe all are agreed that oatmeal is an excellent 
sustenance, and there are many who deplore that it 
is being displaced by wheat in Scotland. Medical 
men are well aware of the connexion of disorders of 
the skin with indigestion. Cullen, an old but 
excellent writer on medicine, has, in his work on 
the Practice of Physic, a chapter " on the pyrosis, 
or what is named in Scotland the water-brash " ; 
and he says of it that "it is a disease frequent 
among people in lower life, but occurs also, though 
more rarely, in people of better condition." The 
complaint is attended with heartburn, and is 
ascribed to the large employment of farinaceous 
substances, and especially of oatmeal. 
Mr. Borron compares the dry grains of this 
country to oatmeal, and says of kurakkan: "It is 
sustaining, nourishing and wholesome," and that 
persons acoustoraed to oatmeal porridge " will find 
it pleasant also." The nutritive value of the millets 
is not denied ; but bad consequences may arise 
from their oonstant uso, particularly as rioe is said 
to be a luxury almost unknown in some places in the 
interior. Dr. King, in his " Madras Manual of 
Hygiene,"* says of oatmeal: "Weight for weight, 
it contains mora nutritive material than wheat- 
Hour, to which it is inferior only in starch, ex- 
ceeding it in fat more especially." Of the millets 
(or so-called dry grains, from their mode of culti- 
vation without artificial irrigation), he says: ''As 
a class they form a more nutritious dietary than 
rice"; but, he adds: "in the case of ragee (ku- 
* The Madras Manual was handed by us to Dr. 
Kynsey, and he had it reprinted. We suppose the 
opinion regarding oatmeal occurs in the Manual.— Ed, 
rakkan) more especially complete comminution ami 
tar efal boiling are necessary tooiwi.ite indigestibilily, 
leading to diarrhoea and insufficient nutrition." 
Some years ago it became a matter of practical 
importance, in connection with our jails, to deter- 
mine what constitutes a suitable dietary for labouring 
men. I know that my friend, the late Dr. Dickman, 
entertained a high opinion of the nutritive value 
of kurakkan ; but I was not aware that he re- 
commended it as an article of diet for prisoners. 
In the report of Dr. Charsley, P. C. M. O.. for 1863, 
the following passage occurs : " This year has been 
memorable for the introduction of what is termed 
Penal Diet among the prisoners on the recommenda- 
tion of the Jail Commission." This diet con- 
sisted only of rice with salt for breakfast, and for 
dinner, with a little rice congee or gruel in the 
morning before going out for work ; and it was 
enforced for the first ten days of every month 
for the first six months of imprisonment. The 
prisoners were to be on ordinary diet for the re- 
maining two-thirds of the month. Medical officers 
were directed carefully to watch the effects of the 
diet. In a short time unfavourable reports were 
made from Kandy (probably by Dr. Dickman) and 
from Hambantota, and an unusual amount of preva- 
lence of bowel complaint was a cribed to the lowering 
of the system by insufficient die". It was represented 
that "the diet, from its deficiency in nitrogenous 
principles, cannot be enforced without permanent 
injury to the health of the prisoners." The Penal 
Diet was afterwards improved and made more 
nourishing. 
I agree with you that kurakkan must be more 
sustaining than rice ; but the latter is more easily 
prepared and "it is generally regarded in full 
quantity, as the standard of comfortable living in 
large portions of India." The prisoners in our 
jails, fed on rice, soon become sleek and fat, and 
the general impression is that they are well-fed, 
able-bodied men ; but the fact is known to medical 
officers that in illness the recuperative powers are 
deficient, and it is a matter of anxiety to keep 
down sickness and mortality in our jails. In a 
paper published in 1853 in the Ceylon Medical 
Miscellany , "on burning of the feet," I threw out a 
suspision that there was a scorbutic tendency 
among the prisoners at Welikada from their being 
fed on rice with too little animal food. Some 
years afterwards Drs. Kynsey and Koch were satis- 
fied that scurvy existed in the Colombo jails, and 
they recommended that the diet of the prisoners 
should be made more nourishing by the addition of 
nitrogenous or flesh-forming substances. 
Wheat, although the best of the csreals, is con- 
sidered to be deficient in anti-scorbutic salts. There 
is much less of flesh-forming substance (gluten) 
in rice than in wheat; but it has a larger amount 
of fat-forming or heat-giving substances, and as it 
is easily digestible, it is for good reasons the staple 
food in hot climates. As it is deficient in the 
nitrogenous element, meat or fish or dal (as in 
India) has to be added. The Hindus, who feed 
almost entirely on rice, arc often attacked with 
sloughing of the cornea, an affection which was 
not very uncommon in prisoners herein former days 
after a short illness. 
What I have written is a humble contribution 
to the subject of the relative value of rice and 
kurakkan, as food for the people. The extinction 
of malaria and the increase of food supply in 
certain parts of the island are matters deserving 
of consideration, and it is satisfactory to find 
earnest minds exercised as to the best means of 
advancing the welfare of the inhabitants. — Your 
obedient servant, JAMES LOOS, m.d., 
Retired Colonial Surgeon. 
