Further, the total consumption of food by the average individual, non-nitrogenous as well as nitrogenous, is considerably greater than the real needs of the body demand, although here we must give closer heed to the varying requirements of the body incidental to varying degrees of activity. The man whose work is mainly mental has no real need for high fuel values in his daily ration. For such a man, a high potential energy in the daily intake of food is an incubus and not a gain. Body equilibrium can be maintained on far less than 3000 calories per day by the brain worker, and in the interest of health, strength, and vigor, as well as scientific truth, why teach the doctrine that a healthy man needs, on an average, foodstuffs to furnish 3000 calories or more per day, with 16 to 18 grams of nitrogen in the form of proteid? Moreover, as our experiments have clearly indicated, even the man who is called upon to perform considerable physical work has no apparent need for a fuel value in his food of 3000 calories per day. No doubt, the man who works at hard labor for ten or twelve hours a day will require a larger intake of fats and carbohydrates, sufficient to yield even more than 3000 calories, but this is not true of the moderate worker, nor of the average man whose work is in large measure mental rather than physical.
Finally, the writer may be permitted to express the hope that the outcome of this experimental work will serve to arouse scientific and intelligent interest in a subject which promises fruitful results for the individual, and for the community.
VII. DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Photographs of the soldiers were taken a few days prior to the close of the experiment, just before the men left New Haven at the termination of their work. Consequently, the pictures show the physical condition of the men after their long period of low nitrogen diet. Study of these photographs, especially those of the individuals, gives a correct idea of the appearance of the men, and shows the character of their muscular development at the close of their experimental work.
In considering these photographs, it must be remembered that the men as a class, as stated by Dr. Anderson in his Report, were not particularly well set up. It is evident, however, that the subjects were in good physical condition and had not lost any undue amount of flesh or fat. The two photographs of Fritz, facing pages [198] and [203], show him to have been in fine physical condition, with even a superabundance of fat. Steltz, on the other hand, whose photograph is shown facing page [211], was somewhat fine. This man, however, is of quite different build from his companion, Coffman, and was in excellent physical condition for certain lines of gymnastic work.
It may be well at this point to refer the reader to the photographs of W. L. Anderson and Bellis, facing pages [440] and [442]. These men, typical Yale athletes, were in prime physical condition, and the photographs were taken prior to the experiment, at a time when they were consuming their ordinary, rich proteid diet. It is plain, by a comparison of these photographs, that Steltz was not trained to a much finer point than W. L. Anderson, although he does lack the full muscular development characteristic of the Yale athlete.
Sliney, whose photograph is found facing page [272], was likewise in a somewhat fine condition. He, however, like Steltz, was in splendid physical shape, so far as can be judged by his general health, spirits and aptitude for work. The other men of the soldier group, whose photographs are shown, were not trained down to quite the same degree. Both Sliney and Steltz, however, had essentially the same body-weight at the close of the experiment, as on their arrival in New Haven. Steltz, indeed, weighed a trifle more in April, 1904, than he did in October, 1903. Sliney, on the other hand, had lost about one pound in weight. It is obvious, therefore, that these two men do not owe their spare condition to the low proteid diet.
The photographs facing pages [136], [261], [284] and [296] illustrate some of the methods employed in attempts to improve the bodily movements of the soldiers.
Among the group of University athletes, the photographs of Stapleton, facing pages [328] and [366], show the muscular development of a typical athlete endowed with more than the usual amount of muscular tissue. These two photographs of Stapleton were taken in April, after the subject had been for several months on a low proteid diet. There is in the photographs certainly no suggestion of any loss of muscle tissue, and no evidence of physical weakness. Stapleton, as has been previously stated, was an expert in wrestling and events of that character, for which his heavy muscular build well fitted him.