NationalLibraryOfScotland/medical-history-of-british-india huggingface dataset:
217
is a function of the protein metabolism possible from the diet. It is worthy of
note that there is very little dysentery, diarrhœa or bowel complaint present
amongst the individuals of these tribes. The stools are well-formed and regular,
and very much a contrast to the semi-fluid excretion of the Bengali.
We made some observations on the blood of the Bhutias and Nepalese in
Darjeeling jail, but no difference of importance could be detected. Thus the
average of 28 observations gave:—
Bhutea.
Nepalese.
Hæmoglobin .
.
.
.
.
.
84%
84%
Red b. Corps .
.
.
.
.
. 5,360,000 5,280,000
White b. Corps
.
.
.
.
.
9,740
9,660
As these prisoners get the same diet while under confinement in all probability
any racial differences in the composition of the blood would have disappeared.
It was found impossible to get blood from these outside the walls of the jail, so
that differences may exist.
(3) Investigation on the nutrition of prisoners in Darjeeling jail :
TABLE XXVI.
(a) In order to obtain some idea of what the level of nitrogenous metabolism
of Bhutias and Nepalese would be on a diet more or less similar to their accustomed
diet, we placed a mixed batch of six prisoners on the following:—
Rice
.
.
. . .
. 120 ozs.=20 ozs. per man.
Dal .
.
.
. .
. . 24 ozs.= 4 ozs. „
Meat
.
.
.
.
.
. 96 ozs.=16 ozs. „
Vegetables
. .
.
.
. 36 ozs.= 6 ozs. „
Observed for nine consecutive days.
Batch.
Quantity
of Urine.
Total N.
of Urine.
N. of
Rice.
N. of
Dal.
N. of
Meat.
N. of
Vege-
tables.
Weight.
c. c.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms. lbs.
Mixed Bhutia and Nepal-
ese prisoners.
9,110
89.62
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
123.6
11,110
89.70
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
..
11,620
88.30
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
..
11,900
91.29
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
123.6
11,300
89.68
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
..
9,000
91.98
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
..
13,380
95.81
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
123.5
11,760
97.63
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
..
12,000
101.80
37.44
25.05
65.30
2.83
123.6
Total intake of nitrogen=1175.58 grms.
Total output
N. of Urine
.
.
. =835.81 grms.
0.5 grm. daily constant
. =27.00 „
Total nitrogenous metabolism . =862.81 „
=73.90 per cent. of the nitrogen of the diet
or 15.98 grms. of nitrogen per man daily.
2 F
218
We, therefore, see that a fairly high percentage of the total nitrogen of the diet is
absorbed even though it does contain a large amount of rice. The metabolism
of practically 16 grms. of protein per man daily is very much greater than anything
we found in the Bengali or Behari, and makes very evident the superior type of
diet that these tribes live on. For these six prisoners the nitrogenous
metabolism works out to be 0.284 grm. per kilo of body-weight, over two and a
half times the quantity stated by Chittenden to be more than sufficient to meet the
nitrogenous requirements of the body; yet this diet is not by any means so high in
protein as that to which the well-paid and superior classes of the Nepalese and
Tibetan Bhutias are accustomed. This diet is worth in round numbers about
140 grms. of protein, whereas the dietaries of the Tibetan Bhutias may be taken to
have an average value of 160 grms., with a maximum approaching closely 200
to 220 grms. per man daily.
(b) In order to determine the degree of nitrogenous metabolism attained
by Bhutias and Nepalese on the ordinary jail diet we placed a mixed batch of six
prisoners on the diet in use in Darjeeling jail.
This diet appears to vary in the quantities of the different ingredients from
day to day, but it is made up of . . . . Rice, makkai ata, (porridge) dal and
vegetables.
Six prisoners observed over ten consecutive days.
Batch.
Total
quantity
of Urine.
Total N.
of Urine.
N. of
Rice.
N. of
Makkai
ata.
N. of
Arhar
dal.
N. of
Vege-
tables.
Weight.
c. c.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms.
lbs.
Six prisoners in Darjeel-
ing jail.
9,370
48.53
20.59
42.33
35.64
2.83
125.3
9,760
52.60
20.59
42.33
35.64
2.83
..
9,710
53.55
28.08
31.75
35.64
2.83
. .
11,210
47.08
20.59
42.33
35.64
2.83
..
10,500
46.45
20.59
36.82
35.64
2.83
. .
11,940
47.48
34.49
..
35.64
2.83
. .
10,400
45.84
48.67
..
35.64
2.83
. .
11,890
48.93
20.59
31.31
35.64
2.83
..
9,520
50.37
20.59
42.33
35.64
2.83
..
12,470
51.85
28.08
18.52
35.64
2.83
125.4
219
This diet works out to be on an average over the ten days :—
Rice .
.
.
.
.
. 14 ozs.
per man daily.
Makkai ata
.
.
.
. 11
”
Dal
.
.
.
.
.
. 6
”
Vegetables
.
.
. . 6 „
Total intake of nitrogen=935.28 grms.
Total output
N. of Urine .
.
.
. 492.68 grms.
0.5 grm. daily con stant
. 30.00 ”
Total nitrogenus metabolism . 522 .68 „
=55.88 per cent. of the nitrogen of the diet
=8.71 grms. of nitrogen per man daily.
From this we learn that hill-men, when placed on a diet very similar to the makkai
ata diet of the Behari, give practically identical results as regards the amount of
protein undergoing metabolism.
This investigation further brings out the fact that the jail dietary is very
inferior to the ordinary scale to which these tribes are accustomed in their own
homes. This jail would, therefore, appear to be the only one in Bengal where the
prisoners are not better fed inside the jail than outside. The difference is very
marked as regards the protein metabolism; in round numbers we found it to
correspond to 16 grms. of nitrogen per man daily, whereas the jail diet only
provides for a metabolism of about 9 grms. of nitrogen per man daily. From
the standpoint of a well-fed Bhutia the jail food would be considered absolutely
penal. This may have something to say to the very small number of Bhutias to
be found in prison.
(c) In order to determine whether the nitrogenous metabolism of Bhutias
and Nepalese would be similar to that of Beharis on a wheat ata diet we placed
a mixed batch of Bhutias and Nepalese on the diet from which was obtained the
maximum absorption in Bhagalpur jail. This was :—
Rice
.
.
.
.
. 12 ozs.
per man daily.
Wheat ata .
.
.
.
. 10
”
A r h a r d a l
.
.
.
.
.
6
”
Vegetables
.
.
.
.
6 . ,,
2 F 2
220
Twelve Bhutia and Nepalese prisoners observed for five consecutive days.
Batch.
Total
quantity
of Urine.
Total N.
of Urine.
N. of
Rice.
N. of
Wheat
ata.
N. of
Arhar
dal.
N. of
Vege-
tables.
Weight.
c.c.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms.
grms.
lbs.
Twelve prisoners in Dar-
jeeling jail.
12,930
128.32
44.94
67.38
71.56
5.66
122.0
15,600
121.48
44.94
67.38
71.56
5.66
122.1
17,520
122.34
44.94
67.38
71.56
5.66
122.0
17,150
116.32
44.94
67.38
71.56
5.66
122.0
16,660
123.93
44.94
67.38
71.56
5.66
122.1
Total intake of nitrogen=947.70 grms. T o t a l o u t p u t —
N. of Urine .
.
.
. 642.39 grms.
0.5 grm. per man daily constant 30.00 „
Total N. metabolism .
.
. 672.39 „
=70.90 per cent. of the N. of the diet
=10.70 grms. of nitrogen per man daily.
We again learn that these hill-men give practically identical results with the
Behari prisoners in Bhagalpur jail when the two classes were placed on similar diets.
It is, therefore, evident that the protein absorption from a diet depends entirely
on the way in which it is made up, and not on the greater or less absorptive power
of one individual or race compared with another individual or race. This
finding we have plenty of evidence to prove and have already referred to it in
previous parts of this work.
A comparison of the level of nitrogen metabolism attained by Bhutias and
Nepalese, when placed on the most efficient Behari dietary, with their nitrogenous
metabolism when on a diet only approximately as nutritious as that to which they
are accustomed, again serves to bring out clearly the great superiority of the diet-
aries of these hill-tribes.
From the evidence adduced there would appear to be no doubt that the
splendid physical development seen amongst these men is due very largely to the
highly nutritious food materials on which they live, under the natural condi-
tions available in the earlier years of life when growth is taking place.
(4) Conclusions arrived at regarding the relationship of food to physical develop-
ment.—We have shown that it is quite possible for an individual to subsist on the
amount of protein stated by Chittenden to be sufficient; in fact, there can be little
doubt but that the teeming millions of Bengal have an even lower level of
221
nitrogenous metabolism than Chittenden's standard. So far, our work corrobo-
rates his results. But when we look at the other side of the question and make an
attempt to estimate what the effects of dietaries, providing so low a standard
of nitrogen absorption, are on the physical well-being of the people we are forced
by the evidence to attach much greater importance to the glaring ill-effects of such
diets than to their physiological economy or the supposed advantages of a low
protein intake to the excretory system.
From a study of the urine, blood, physical development and general capabili-
ties of the Bengali we expressed the conviction that the diet on which he subsists
was largely to blame for his miserably poor physique and want of vigour. Nothing
we have learned in this further study has tended to contravert that opinion; on
the contrary, the more the subject has been gone into the stronger the evidence
becomes of its correctness. It is admitted by everyone that, compared with the
working European, the Bengali labourer is on a very low scale; vegetarians and
the followers of Chittenden have assigned every possible cause that could be
thought of, except diet, as offering a full and complete explanation of the Bengali's
inferior capabilities. We have discussed these hazy, ill-defined influences and,
whilst admitting the probable force of some of them, have largely eliminated
them by contrasting individuals, tribes or races in which all these factors are
identical, but in which diet alone forms the distinguishing element, or—to put it
more correctly—in which the level of protein metabolism forms the great line of
demarcation.
From this point of view we contrasted the Bengali, Behari and some of the
great fighting races of the Punjab—all inhabitants of the plains, of the same or
closely allied religious beliefs, and customs regarding marriage, and under
climatic conditions that are practically identical; the evidence of the rightful posi-
tion of these races in the category of men, and their respective claims to manly
qualities force us to the same conclusion, that diet or absorbable protein is the all-
important element in the development and character-formation of a people.
From a study of the hill-tribes around Darjeeling we have been able to gather
most important information bearing on this question; and again, it becomes evi-
dent that the well-developed and more muscular races are those whose diet is very
superior in the amount of absorbable protein it presents. We need not go into
details of the work carried out on these tribes. The main fact, so far as we are at
present concerned, is that the Bhutia, by far the most capable of these people in
those occupations requiring great muscular exertion, attains a nitrogenous meta-
bolism much higher than any other tribe, or, indeed, any other race that we have
investigated. Just as was the case with the inhabitants of the plains, so we find
with the races in the hills—variations in the amount of nitrogenous metabolism
222
appear to be the determining factors of the several causes that go to relegate,
fix and maintain the position of a people, tribe or race in the scale of mankind.
Of all the different races that we have investigated the scale of the relative de-
velopment, vigour and general muscularity is easily fixed. The following may be
taken as showing how the several tribes would be placed, together with the several
degrees of nitrogenous metabolism per kilo of body-weight to which they
attain:—
(i) Bhutias—
N. per kilo of body-weight.
Nepalese Bhutias
.
.
.
. 0.42 grm. (very highly animal diet).
Tibetan and Bhotan .
.
.
. 0.35 „
Sikkim Bhutias
.
.
.
. 0.25 „
(ii) Nepalese .
.
.
.
.
. 0.18 to 0.25 grm.
(iii) Beharis
.
.
.
.
.
. 0.145 grm.
Prisoners
.
.
.
.
. 0.173 grm.
(iv) Bengalis and Ooriyas
.
.
. 0.116 grm.
Prisoners
.
.
.
.
. 0.151 grm.
The close relationship between the nutritive value of the several dietaries and
its influence on the physical development of the different peoples of Bengal is
clearly brought out by this list with its accompanying scale of nitrogenous
metabolism.
The aboriginal tribes of Chota Nagpur. —We shall conclude, and complete the
work done in Bengal, by a short summary of the information supplied us with
regard to the aboriginal tribes inhabiting the Ranchi plateau.
Major Maddox, I.M.S., Civil Surgeon, Ranchi, kindly collected this informa-
tion for which we are most grateful.
In Part I, Chapter II, Section (2) ( c), will be found an account of the experi
-mental work carried out on representatives of four of the principal tribes, viz.,
Pater, Moonda, Swansi and Uraon.
We found on the whole that the level of nitrogenous metabolism was distinctly
on a higher scale with these men than was the case with Bengalis and Ooriyas
on a similar diet. What the true explanation of this is we are not in a position to
state.
If we had obtained similar results with the Darjeeling tribes it might have
been justifiable to assume that people inhabiting the hills, and accustomed to
a better diet than inhabitants of the plains, were able to absorb a higher percentage
of the protein from an identical diet. But, while the Darjeeling tribes did show a
slightly better protein absorption than Beharis on the same diets, the difference
fs too small to be any proof that such an assumption is absolutely right.
The characteristics on which we laid such stress when discussing the Darjeeling
hill-tribes are also to be found amongst these aborigines. While of no great size,
223
the average aborigine is a most capable worker, bright, cheery and alive to his
surroundings. In muscular development he is very superior to the Bengali, but,
as would be expected from his diet, inferior to most of the Bhutias and Nepalese.
His physical development and general capabilities would again confirm the con-
clusions already arrived at from a study of the Bengali, Behari and Bhutia, viz.,
that the position of a tribe or race in the scale of physical development is largely
a matter of the amount of absorbable protein offered in the dietaries.
The differences in the natural dietaries of these four tribes are not sufficiently
well marked to show any real distinction in physical development. We append
the notes which Major Maddox was able to obtain.
Pators or Paters.
These people were originally Mundas, but have now become completely
Hinduized.
The Pators, or Pator Mundas as they are often called, are only found in what
used to be the Rahey thana circle, this part now being divided up between
the Sonahatu and Silli thanas. Closely related to them, and practically similar
in all respects, are the Kangar Mundas found round Ranch itself and Khunti.
It is not known how long ago these people became Hinduized, but there seems
to be no doubt of their origin.
Though they speak Hindi and Bengali to some extent, their language among
themselves is Mundari.
They eat the flesh of fowls and goats, but never eat cow or buffalo or pig.
They consider themselves higher than Mundas, Uraons, Sawansis or Lohars,
and do not intermarry with or eat with them.
The original work of the caste seems to have been oil-making and selling,
but now they also do some cultivation.
The general physique of these people is better than that of the Mundas so far
as can be seen.
Average height and weight of 100 Pater prisoners.
Food at home, daily quantity and animal food taken.
Height — 5′-3 1/5 ″ .
.
.
.
.
. Daily consume about 22 ozs. of rice, 4 ozs. dal.
Weight — 104 lbs.
Generally drink Hari (a form of wine)
every night before supper. Also take
fish, meat, mutton, milk and fowl.
Mundas.
These people, classed by Colonel Dalton as Kolarians, appear not to be con-
nected with the Dravidian races, and to have entered India originally from the
North-East.
224
It is believed that at one time they peopled the whole of Northern India, but
they never seem to have gone to the southern part of the Peninsula.
They have also been identified with a black race who for a long time peopled
the southern part of China, and was finally driven out by the Chinese after
many years of extremely bloody warfare.
They can also be traced by some physical peculiarities and by certain rules
of their language to be connected with some of the aborigines of Australia and
the South Sea Islands.
I am informed by the Revd. Father Hoffmann, S. J., that there are more than
one hundred words in Mundari which are pure Chinese. Among these are several
of the numerals.
In more recent times, comparatively, they were found in Behar, and it is
believed that on wandering thence they at last found themselves on the Chota
Nagpur plateau, where they seem to have been the first settlers. It is difficult to
say how long they have been settled on the plateau, but probably they came hither
before the Christian era. They now chiefly occupy the southern and south-eastern
portions of the district of Ranchi.
In physique they are short, and their skins are darker in colour than that of
any other people on the plateau. As children they may occasionally have some
pretensions to good looks, but these are practically never present in adult life in
either sex.
Their diet is universal and they eat all kinds of flesh including that of rats and
snakes. They also eat certain insects.
Their cattle are all used for ploughing. Consequently the cows are seldom
milked and it is probably only at the seasons when little or no ploughing is being
carried on that cow's milk is used to any extent as a food. In fact, if a woman
dies leaving a small infant it is only in a very small percentage of cases that the
child has any chance of surviving.
Average height and weight of 100 Munda prisoners. Food at home, daily quantity and kind of animal food
taken.
Height — 5′-3⅛″ .
.
.
.
.
. Rice and dal in both the meals. Quantity
same as Pater. Also take fish, milk, meat,
mutton, beef, pork and buffalo.
Weight — 107¾ lbs.
Sawansis.
These people are Mundas Hinduized at a remote period.
They are the weavers of Chota Nagpur, being found in nearly every village,
where they live among the other people carrying on their work as weavers of
the coarse country cloth worn by the poorer classes.
225
As they seldom own any land they are dependent on the villagers, who bring
them the cotton grown by themselves. They consider themselves to be Hindus
and will not eat or intermarry with Mundas or Pators. They do not eat the flesh
of cows, buffaloes or pig, but goats' flesh is their staple diet, and, as it is difficult
for them to keep goats as they have little or no land of their own, they have
developed into a caste of professional thieves, the principal thing stolen by
them being goats which they promptly eat.
The Revd. Father Hoffmann, S.J., from whom my information about these
people is derived, tells me that they live on goats' flesh which is nearly all of it
stolen.
Average height and weight of 100 Sawansis.
Food taken by them.
Height - 5-3″ .
.
.
.
.
.
Rice and dal in both the meals. Quantity
and time of food same as Pator and Munda.
They also take fish, meat, mutton, and
fowls.
Weight — 100 lbs.
Uraons or Oraons or Khurunkh.
These people are classed by Colonel Dalton as Dravidians and he states that
they are related to the peoples of the South of India, and that their languages are
closely related. He considers that they came into India from the North-West
at the same time as, or at a later date than, the Kolas from whom the Mundas
have their origin.
These people, like the Mundas, are said to have been at one time in Behar
and then having wandered westwards to have returned and for some time to have
settled around about Rohtas, or possibly that they came from the west about
Gujrat in which they had settled. When driven thence some are said to have
gone to the Rajmahal hills, and the rest to the Chota Nagpur plateau to form
the race now occupying part of the plateau and known as Oraons or Khurunkhs.
This is believed to have occurred about the time of the Christian era or at a
later date than the Mundas' migration.
These people occupy a portion of the Ranchi District extending from near
Ranchi town westwards and north-westwards.
In physique they are distinctly finer than the Mundas and, at any rate in
the earlier years of life, many of both sexes have some pretensions to good looks.
As they grow older they degenerate rapidly, and the forward projection of the
upper jaw and teeth which is a distinctive character of these people becomes much
more noticeable and disfiguring.
In intelligence they are above the Mundas. Many who have emigrated to
the tea-gardens become remarkably intelligent and raise themselves considerably
above their original level of social life and comforts.
2 G
226
Their diet in their native conditions is practically anything that they can
catch including jackals, snakes, lizards and insects. At their feasts they consume
large quantities of buffalo meat. They always eat meat when they can get it and
are specially fond of pork. They are clean in their persons and fond of personal
adornment with beads, coins and necklaces made of grass and seeds and other things.
The females are all tattooed in childhood with three—usually vertical—marks on
the forehead a little above the root of the nose. Although their cows are used
in ploughing, milk is made more use of as an article of food by them than by
the Mundas.
It is rare for any aboriginal people to cook food more than once a day. The
rice is cooked in the evening in sufficiently large quantity to provide for two meals,—
one portion is eaten with hot vegetables, meat and condiments at night, and the
remainder is kept and eaten cold, frequently only with salt, at any time from
about 8 A.M. to noon.
Average height and weight of 100 Uraon prisoners.
Daily food, etc.
Height
—5′ 3 ¾ ″ .
.
.
.
. Rice and dal at both meals. Take marooa
bread as morning meal, in the season of
the year (August and September). Quantity
same as Pater, Munda and Sawansi.
Animal food same as Munda or in larger
quantities.
Weight
—107½ lbs.
This concludes the work that we have been able to perform on Bengal jail
dietaries and on the different problems that have cropped up during the course
of our enquiry. One of the most interesting questions is undoubtedly the
relationship of the degree of nitrogenous metabolism to physical development
and the general characteristics of the people of a race. We have brought a good
deal of evidence forward to show that an intimate connection does exist, and that
diet is a powerful factor in determining the position of a tribe or race in the scale
of mankind.
This line of research we hope further to elaborate from a study of the great
fighting races of the Punjab and Rajputana; at present we know enough to say that
a diet of rice and dal does not appear to conduce to the formation of the special
characteristics that are desirable in those recruited for the fighting line, nor to
the muscular development essential for the performance of a hard day's work.
On the other hand, in those races where an assimilable protein, and particularly
an animal protein forms part of the ordinary diet, muscular development and
good fighting qualities seem to be intimately related with the level of nitrogenous
metabolism attained.
CHART I.
CHART OF PROTEIN METABOLISM FROM DIETARIES
Reg. No. 1880 E.. 09.—H.—1,131.
CHART II.
CHART OF PROTEIN METABOLISM FROM DIETARIES
CHART III.
CHART IV.
CHART V.
VARYING QUANTITIES OF BURMA RICE IN OZS.
CHART VI.
BURMA RICE IN VARYINC QUANTITIES IN OZS.
(a) Wheat ata 10 Ozs. Constant.
(b) Makkai ata 10 Ozs. Constant.
CHART VII.
(a) VARYING QUANTITIES OF WHEAT ATA IN OZS.
(b)" " OF MAKKAI ATA IN OZS.
Reg. No. 1880 E. . 09. —H. —1, 131.
CHART VIII.
VARYING QUANTITIES OF COUNTRY RICE IN OZS.
CHART IX.
(a) VARYING QUANTITIES OF BURMA RICE IN OZS.
BUXAR JAIL .
(b)
"
"
O F C O U N T R Y R I C E I N O Z S .
BHAGULPUR JAIL .
CHART X .
CHART XI.
VARYING QUANTITIES OF COUNTRY RICE IN OZS.
THE FALL WITH 14 OZS. OF RICE WAS DUE LARGELY TO
THE FACT THAT ONLY II OZS. OF MAKKAI ATA WERE CONSUMED IN THAT DIET.