334 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
form.* The average food “as purchased” per man per day in the 
seventeen families was : 98 grammes of proteid, 89*8 of fat, and 
467*7 grammes of carbohydrate. When the coefficient of digesti- 
bility of the different foods is allowed for, this represents 85*35 
grammes of proteid, 86*2 of fat, and 447’6 of carbohydrates. 
Lumsden’s investigation had the advantage of being carried out 
for a number of weeks. It is noteworthy that only three of 
these families had a proteid allowance equal to Atwater’s 
standard. The others were 21*5 per cent, below the requirements. 
Lumsden says of four families in particular : “All the families are 
living under the poverty line, and one will rather expect to find a 
lamentable state of want : however, strange to relate, these families 
live a happy, contented existence ; the children are well kept and 
particularly healthy-looking.” 
Numerous Japanese dietaries have also been studied. They 
have recently been published in English.! Tahara sug- 
gested that Japanese, owing to their smaller stature, required 
less than average Europeans and Americans as their daily 
allowance. His conclusion was, that the Japanese required 
96 grammes of proteid, 20 grammes of fat, and 450 grammes of 
carbohydrate (Calories, 2380) ( Bullet . Imp. Sanit. Lab. Tohio , 
1887, No. 2). Riibner’s factor for energy value is stated to be 
inapplicable to Japanese food, as it differs from that of Europeans 
in digestibility. For vegetable proteid, 3*56 was the factor used, 
and 4*45 for animal proteid. Nearly 400 different dietary studies 
have been made in Japan. All classes of the community were 
studied, but no studies of women were made. The period of 
observation varied from three days to a year. 
The general result was that the Japanese were found to be 
well nourished. They are not vegetarians to anything like the 
extent that they are supposed to be. Rice is a most important 
article of diet, but the well-to-do classes take meat and fish to a 
considerable extent. The vegetarianism is more from economy 
than from principle, except in the case of strict Buddhists. 
* An Investigation into the Income and Expenditure of Seventeen Brewery 
Families , and a Study of their Diets, 1905. 
+ “A Digest of Japanese Investigations on the Nutrition of Man,” by 
Kintaro Oshima, Bulletin 159 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1905. 
