1904 - 5 .] 
A Study of Three Vegetarian Diets. 
499 
It is not our purpose here to consider this aspect of the question, 
but we think that the new light thrown upon dietetics by 
Chittenden’s book makes the study of what might be considered 
atypical diets of considerable interest. 
In the diets recorded by him, vegetables, as might be expected, 
figure very largely, and while in all of them the amount of 
animal food is lower than is usual, in some of the diets vegetables 
almost entirely replace animal products. 
As a result of the publication of our Dietary Studies of the 
Labouring Classes in Edinburgh in 1898, the opportunity has 
been presented to us of studying three very atypical vegetarian 
diets, which had been selected by their consumers for what 
appeared to them reasons of health and economy, and they seem 
to us to present features of sufficient interest to warrant their 
publication. 
The first illustrates the danger of a refusal to accept the very 
evident fact that the food must supply the necessary energy for 
work ; the second records what, in the light of Chittenden’s work, 
might be considered a very liberal diet, but illustrates one of the 
difficulties of vegetarianism ; while the third reveals the diet of 
a vegetarian glutton, and shows how the res angusta domi have 
produced a reformation. 
Study I. 
The subject of this study was a retired professional man. His 
theory is that most men overeat themselves, and that the less 
a man eats the better and the stronger he is. His physical 
condition does not support his theory. He is in a state of emacia- 
tion, and his appearance is more that of a man suffering from 
some wasting disease than that of a man in robust health. His 
height is 5 feet 10J inches; his weight at the commencement of 
the week’s observation was only 52 kilos. — about 40 per cent, less 
than the normal for his height. 
The food which he selected for himself during the period of 
observation, as suitable for the maintenance of health, was banana 
and hot water. The quantity of banana he consumed during the 
five days was 9J lbs.; on four of the observation days he ate one 
pound of the bananas at about 8.30 a.m., and a second pound at 
