Standards of the constituents of the urine and blood and the bearing of the metabolism of Bengalis on the problems of nutrition / by D. McCay.

  • McCay, David, 1873-
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Standards of the constituents of the urine and blood and the bearing of the metabolism of Bengalis on the problems of nutrition / by D. McCay. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    3 2 Another common rule is “ normally developed individuals weigh as many kilos, as their length measures in centimetres after subtracting the first metre’’ (Landois). This works out very accurately for the average height and weight of Europeans—Europeans 168 c.m. in height should weigh 68 kilos. When we come, however, to apply it to Bengalis, whose average height we have shown to be or 165 c.m., we find that the average weight should not be less than 65 to 67 kilos. His actual weight comes far short of this standard, by so much, as we have already seen, as 25 per cent. From the evidence put forward of the physical development of the Bengali we may fairly come to the conclusion that, on the average, he does not reach the same standard of general physique as is attained by races of European origin; and yet from the evidence we can find no cause inherent in the Bengali as a race for this deficiency ; on the contrary, we consider that there may be a very close relationship between the lower physical development of this people and the meagre proteid constituent of the diet on which they subsist. III.—The evidence from the changes in the blood. We have already dealt to some extent with the changes found in the blood of the Bengali; Table IX gives the results we have obtained from the analyses carried out. The more important differences in the chemical composition of the blood are closely connected with the deficiency in the percentage of the floating pro- teids of the plasma and the low haemoglobin value of the red blood corpuscle. Further changes occur in the increased salinity of the blood, lessened coagulation-time, and an increased alkalinity. [Measured by Wright’s method of titration of the serum against diluted normal sulphuric acid with a litmus indicator, there is a distinctly higher degree of alkalinity present than is found in the European.] The lower level of the pressure of the blood in the arteries is also a point of importance. This will be obvious when we recall the condition of the blood in regard to its haemoglobin value. We have in the blood of the Bengali a reduc- tion, compared with the average European, of up to 25 per cent, in respect to its haemoglobin, and with this 25 per cent, decrease in its oxygen-carrying capa- city we have, at the same time, the pressure at which it flows in the vessels on a much lower scale than in the European. The effects of these conditions must be to modify very markedly the physiological requirements of nutrition, and to a considerable extent affect the growth, power of muscular contraction and general metabolism of the individuals of such a community.