750 
DE. SMITH ON THE ELIMINATION 
Mr. Milner took the general supervision of the prisoners in reference to their dietary, 
excretions, and weight, whilst Mr. Manning kindly determined the nitrogen and dry 
matter in the faeces and urine, and I made the analyses for urea and chloride of sodium. 
The following is an outline of the inquiry : — 
Four men, of regular habits and in a good state of health, were selected. Two were 
weavers of wide-width cocoa-matting, which is a very laborious occupation, and two were 
tailors. Their ages were 19, 22, 24, and 28 years. Their height was 64f, 66, 66f, 
and 67 inches; and their weight 118 lbs. 11 oz., 125 lbs. 12|^ oz., 146 lbs. Ilf oz., and 
146 lbs. 15f oz. The girth around the nipples was 32f, 34f, 35f, and 35f inches, 
gi\ing an average of nearly 34| inches. The total averages of age, height, weight, and 
girth were 23|- years, 66T inches, 134 lbs. 8f oz., and 34^ inches. 
They had been fed upon the highest class of prison dietary; but as that consisted of 
too much variety of food for our purpose, it was deemed advisable to give them a uni- 
form daily dietary during one week before the experiments began, and it was thence- 
forward continued -without intermission until the inquiry terminated. 
The food supplied daily was in part fixed and in other part variable in quantity. 
The fixed qirantities were those of meat, oatmeal, and potatoes, and the variable ones 
those of bread, salt, and water. Milk was given in a fixed quantity, but the amount 
supplied was not uniform in the two classes of prisoners. The meat consisted of 5 oz. 
of lean and 1 oz. of fat cooked beef without bone. The supply of oatmeal was 2 oz., 
and of cooked potatoes 1 lb. daily. 20 oz. of skimmed milk -were given to the tailors, 
and 25 oz. to the weavers. The daily quantity of bread eaten was on the average 
24-3 oz. by the tailors, and 30-4 oz. by the weavers, or a general total of 27‘35 oz. 
The quantity of chloride of sodium eaten (besides that contained in the bread) was 
136-5 grs. daily by the tailors, and 63-5 grs. by the weavers, gmng an average of 
100 grs. daily. There was considerable variation in the quantity from day to day; 
for whilst one of the tailors ate an average amount of 199-3 grs., the other tailor ate 
only 73-8 grs. The quantity of water drunk, besides that contained in one pint of gruel, 
was only 23-8 fluid ounces on the average; and this with the milk gave a total daily 
supply of fluid of 66-3 oz. The weavers drank much more than the tailors; and the 
total daily quantities in the two classes were 80-5 oz. and 52-1 oz. The solid food was 
51-8 oz., and the fluid 66-3 oz., or a total ingestion of 118 oz. daily. 
The prisoners rose at 6 A.M., and, ha-vdng passed urine and faeces, were immediately 
weighed. The scales employed were good ones ; and the weight was taken to a quarter 
of an ounce. The prisoners were weighed naked. The weight of faeces and urine was 
ascertained daily up to 6^ a.m. ; and the degree of consistence of the faeces was recorded 
under four heads, viz. scybalous, well formed, formed but soon subsiding, soft and liquid. 
A fair sample of the bread, oatmeal, potatoes, meat, and milk was sent up to Mr. Manning 
from time to time as changes in the supply occurred. A portion of the mixed quan- 
tities of the faeces and urine of each set of prisoners was most carefully taken and sent 
for analysis daily ; but delay in transmission sometimes occurred, so that the analyses 
were usually made on the third or fourth day after the evacuation. The greatest care 
was taken to avoid loss by evaporation or otherwise, and to prevent decomposition. The 
