A Racial Comparison By Major Mccay

An instructive commentary upon Benedict's final contention is furnished by some figures, included in a valuable study of the metabolism of Bengalis, by Professor McCay, of the Medical College of Calcutta. He found that in mill work each 1,000 spindles in England required 4.2 workmen, in India 28; that each man in England was responsible for a weekly output of 767 yards of cloth, whereas in India his capacity was only 240 yards; although coal is much thicker, softer, and more easily cut in India, the output per man was only 80 tons, as compared with 287 tons in England. He attributed this entirely to the inferiority of the Bengali diet in protein as compared with that of the English working man, because, although the majority of the natives of Bengal are vegetarians, the same relative infirmity is to be discovered in the physical development and capacity of those who do not affect a flesh-less diet. Thus an examination was made of 38 students, whose diet included fish, mutton, and fowl, although their religion interdicted the use of beef. The daily excretion of urea was only 13 grams, as compared with 30 grams in the ordinary European, and the total daily excretion of nitrogen 5.9 grams to the 16 to 18 grams of the European. It is interesting to note that their blood-count showed no deterioration in cellular contents, there being 5,300,000 erythrocytes to 9,000 leucocytes, but only 79 per cent. haemoglobin, although a similar investigation by Kellogg amongst actual vegetarians displayed 97 per cent. Similarly the blood-pressure of the vegetarian, with the Stanton modification of the Riva-Rocci apparatus, varied between 120 and 130 mm. Hg, whereas, in the Bengalis it was only 95 to 105. The weight of the latter only averaged 52 kilos as compared with 70 kilos of the European, and with the same height their average girth of chest was under 33 inches. Another important item in the research was the discovery that exactly one quarter of the total nitrogen of the food was excreted by the faeces, compared with 15 per cent. on a European vegetable diet, and this Professor McCay attributed to the use of dhal (pulse), which is responsible for most of the prevalent enteric disorders.

In order that no misunderstanding might exist on the subject, Professor McCay further examined the students of two colleges in Bengal, which included natives, Eurasians, and x\nglo-Indians, living under identical conditions except diet. The diet of the Bengali students had a value of from 43 to 67 grams protein, 200 to 540 grams carbohydrate, 33 to 71 grams of fat, whilst that of the Eurasian and Anglo-Indian students contained 86 grams of protein, 376 grams carbohydrate, 55 grams of fat. At the end of the four years' school curriculum, whilst the Bengalis had increased about 2 inches in height, they had not increased their chest measurement, and their average gain in weight was only 2 pounds (42.8 per cent, having actually lost weight), whereas the Eurasians and Anglo-Indians had increased over 18 pounds in weight and an inch in chest measurement. The significant fact is noted that insurance companies rate the lives of Bengalis as inferior to Europeans, and demand a higher premium, so that they evidently look upon them as "poor" lives.

With the publication of his investigations of Bengal gaol dietaries, Major McCay has made a further important contribution to this subject, and upon a very careful comparative estimate of the different tribes of Lower Bengal he has no hesitation in concluding that the quantity of assimilable protein in a diet is the chief determining factor of the vigour, physical development, enterprise, and sociological status of a nation. In our survey of vegetarianism we have already dealt with his observations on the Bengali and Behari races respectively, the former living exclusively on rice, dhal, and vegetables, whilst the latter substitute a proportion of wheat for some of the rice ration. Both races, however, are vegetarian, less by desire than by force of circumstances, poverty being the impelling factor; yet the former metabolise •15 grams of nitrogen and the latter .173 grams of nitrogen per kilo of the body-weight daily, a decided increase on the •12 grams of nitrogen per kilo of the body-weight which Chittenden considers is all that is necessary for the protein requirements of the body. For reasons which he carefully details, Major McCay recommends that the above allowances be increased to a minimum of .18 gram of nitrogen per kilo of the body-weight each day, with a commensurate reduction of the carbohydrates. This would, as has previously been indicated, assure by reduction of bulk of food a higher percentage of protein absorption and so tend, by diminishing the amount of protein-content, to lessen putrefaction in the colon.

If instinct be of any real service in the selection of a diet, then in the case of these two races of people, its operation would demand an increase of their nitrogenous food, because there unquestionably existed such a desire for it that the promise of a small allowance of meat sufficed to put them on their very best behaviour, and whenever a chance occurred, as, e.g., during the operation of cooking, the most careful supervision was essential to prevent its appropriation.

Major McCay considers that there is no doubt an increase in the supply of nitrogen adds to the productive capacity, and he instances the rapid development of the Japanese contemporaneously with a more generous protein ration, and remarks that in the Russo-Japanese War the commissariat department ensured an abundant supply of protein to the troops at the front.

In addition to the facts already enumerated in connection with the students, he has demonstrated from observations on the blood and urine of the Bengalis that the total nitrogen undergoing metabolism was only about one-third of that amongst Europeans, yet in spite of this fact a greater quantity of sulphates was excreted in the urine, indicating the presence of more intestinal putrefaction. The blood was decidedly impoverished, judging from the higher percentage of watery contents and its. lower percentage of solids and protein. The haemoglobin was reduced in quantity and the blood-pressure lower than the usual European level. Not more than 6 grams of nitrogen or, to be exact, 37.5 grams of protein were absorbed. A chronic state of nitrogen starvation was therefore present, compelling the body to extract its nutriment as far as possible from its own tissues; a state of affairs which easily accounted for the absence of subcutaneous fat, the loss of strength and vigour, and the complete lack of staying power.

The power of resisting disease was very much reduced, and this, contrary to Chittenden's statements, included the various types of renal disease, an occurrence remarkable in a country free from the ravages of scarlet fever, and amongst a people innocent of indulgence in alcoholic liquor. The extra third of an ounce of protein in the rations of the Behari was accompanied by a more generous physical development, and in particular a greater brightness of disposition and activity and liveliness of manner - their weight was greater by an average of 10 pounds per man than amongst the Bengalis, showing that the improvement in the rations was immediately reflected in an increase of weight.

The contrast between these two peoples of the plains was unmistakable and decided, but was immeasurably inferior in extent to that which was displayed by comparison with the hill tribes. Instead of lack of attention to the details of everyday life and an air of introspection and disinterestedness in business, there was vivacity and alertness. The Beharis were a great advance upon the Bengalis, and all their conditions were alike except as regards the extra quantity of absorbable protein in the wheat. It is reasonable to conclude, therefore, that the defective nutrition was due entirely to the lack of protein. Kellogg has suggested that sexual excesses, bad climate, the actinic rays of the sun, the immature marriage-age, are more important factors than the diet; but these conditions likewise exist amongst tribes eating more protein, and have no deterrent effect upon an improvement of the physique. Besides which, the natives of Lower Bengal are entirely useless as soldiers, and it is found in India that those who join the army and are distinguished for manly qualities are never vegetarians, but usually large meat-eaters, e.g., the Sihks, the Rajputs, Jats, and Dogras. Experiments made on two sets of young monkeys in all respects like each other, except that the one set was fed on animal food, whilst the other set was fed on a vegetarian diet, showed that the former grew up much stronger and more ferocious than the latter.