44 
Comparison of Native Dietary with Laws of Diet. 
By Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S. 
Certain laws are pretty generally recognized by scientific men 
and students of hygiene— e. g. that a perfect dietary should con¬ 
tain fat, albuminoid or nitrogenous matter (lean meat, casein, 
vegetable gluten, &c.), and carbohydrates (starch, sugar, &c.) ; 
that the last-mentioned may, however, be dispensed with 
without much evil, but that the first must be consumed in 
notable quantity; that fat should bear a larger proportion to 
the other constituents of diet in cold than in warm climates, 
and that nitrogenized food is required in larger proportion by 
those who lead active and laborious lives; that the entire 
absence of certain acids and salts of potash, found plentifully 
in many vegetables, induces scurvy; that it is better to divide 
the daily ration into two or three meals than to consume it at 
once. It is asserted, however, that whole tribes disregard these 
rules with apparent impunity; that some, for example, live 
almost wholly on lean meat, others on roots like the cassava, 
almost devoid of nitrogen. 
89. Is the food mainly animal or vegetable, nitrogenous, fatty, 
or starchy and saccharine ? Can the proportions of these ele¬ 
ments of diet be estimated P 90. Do great differences in this 
respect prevail among neighbouring tribes ? and do these differ¬ 
ences coincide with diversities of physical type ? 91. Is there 
any alimentary principle, which, being absent or scarce in the 
dietary of thepeople,is eagerly sought and hungered for by them ? 
92. Does any apparent perversion of appetite prevail, such as 
that for “eating dirt” in the West Indies ? 93. Is common salt, 
or any other mineral substance, used or relished ? 94. How 
many meals are commonly eaten in the day ? and what appears 
to be the average quantity of food consumed by an adult ? 
95. What stimulants or exliilarants or narcotics are in use 
among the people ? and to what extent ? 96. Are any sub¬ 
stances of this nature used which are not known in Europe ? 
if so, note carefully their mode of use and supposed or observed 
effects on health, and on capacity for abstinence or labour. 
97. Are there any prevalent diseases attributed or attributable 
to the dietary, e. g. scurvy from want of fresh vegetables or pot¬ 
ash salts, ophthalmia from defect of nitrogen (as in a pure rice 
diet), gangrene &c. from use of diseased grain, paralysis from 
too much pulse, leprosy or skin-disease from too much fish or 
fish-oil, consumption from scantiness or poverty of food, especi¬ 
ally poverty in fat P 98. Does the quality or "quantity of food 
consumed vary much with the seasons ? and do such variations 
affect the health and condition of the people P 
