[Report on the Army ration].

  • McParlin, T. A. (Thomas Andrew), 1825-1897
Date:
[1875]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: [Report on the Army ration]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    5/20
    probably not greatly diminish the consumption of potato, by those already accustomed to its use, but would be preferred by the younger members of the family, as their tastes became adapted to it. The second question was answered variously by different persons. The educated classes for the most part affirmed that a laborer could work better upon meal than upon potato, but their judgment was not based upon personal experience. The laborers themselves, however, differed upon this question, some as- serting that they could work better uoon meal, whilst others, and by far the larger number, affirmed tha' they could work better upon (he potato. But added to these considerations must be the fundamental one, that the potatoes scarcely cost anything, in many instances, and thus allowed money to be expended upon other necessaries, and where the sole object was to live, this must ever have great influence over the judgment. The largest quantity of potatoes eaten by any family was by case No. 611, where 441 lbs. were eaten weekly by the family, and 70 lbs. by each com- puted adult. * * * To show in detail the effect of the change (by an alternative dietary,) upon the quantity of nutriment supplied iu the following table, (he says,) I have cited the cases in which this is re- corded in my notes, with the quantities of potatoes which would be eaten, instead of a given quantity of meal, which would be intermitted. In several of the cases, moreover, sugar was intermitted with the meal, and in others butter was added, with the potatoes, and the nutritive values of these foods have been added accordingly. The table shows the loss or gain in nutriment with the use of the potato. POTATOES VEKSUS MEAL. [See Report of Dr. Edward Smith, V. R. S., on the Food of the Poorer Laboring Classes in England, page 287.] No. of case. Potatoes. Carbon with Potato. <; rains. Nitrogen with Potato. Grains. Pounds. Loss. fi am. Loss. 1 (;ain. 590 591 294 147 IS!) 392 168 98 98 291 196 98 392 294 127 392 441 147 294 147 220A 9.016 90.353 11.7(0 105.965 120.600 120.540 17 360 56.420 82.810 52.460 4.410 82.810 7.815 27 100 19.180 44.520 56.260 71.680 2.618 2.280 5.615 6.104 Includes sugar. 592 594 595 6.108 6 154 6.189 1.367 4.040 4.662 4.919 7.609 597 598 599 Includes sugar. Includ' • sugar. 600 601 602 533 719 605 609 610 611 4 532 Includes Butter. 617 618 624 627 10.780 1.738 2.492 6.069 340