The reciprocal duties of the medical profession and the community : being the inaugural address delivered at the sixty-sixth annual meeting of the British Medical Association / by Sir T. Grainger Stewart.
- Date:
- 1898
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The reciprocal duties of the medical profession and the community : being the inaugural address delivered at the sixty-sixth annual meeting of the British Medical Association / by Sir T. Grainger Stewart. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![described as being in a state of “ physiological bankruptcy.” In well-fed healthy individuals the store of glycogen within the organism is kept at a level which amply suffices to meet the requirements of the system, and even if on any occasion the daily supply falls short, there is the fat stored within the body which can easily be drawn upon as occasion requires. But beyond these are the nitrogenous tissues, which are only brought into use when the other two sources of supply are exhausted, and are so used at great expense to the organism. It was ascertained that our paupers were not fed in such a way as to meet the daily expenditure ; that whatever stores of fat they might at one time have had were completely exhausted before they had long been living upon the poor- house fare, and that consequently they were obliged to fall back upon their nitrogenous tissues to the great diminution of their energy and strength. Their output of nitrogen instead of being a normal of, say ] 5 to 20 grammes, was from 80 to 40 grammes per diem. He soon ascertained that this nitrogenous waste went on all the same, whether the food supply of nitrogenous material was given in proper quantity or deficiently or in excess. And by degrees he satisfied himself that the fault lay in the deficient supply of the fatty materials. He therefore provided for certain paupers an additional allowance of fatty materials in an inexpensive form, and found that the nitrogenous waste speedily diminished. He then was able to determine the amount of fat required, by noticing when in each case he got the nitrogen equilibrium established. These results were presented to the University in the form of a graduation thesis for the doctor’s degree, and the author received the degree with the highest honours. He then placed the work in the hands of the Local Government Board. The Board, after consideration and conference, sent](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21968652_0025.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
