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for a time, of non-satisfaction and hunger. This, however, soon passes off
when a more nutritious diet is prescribed, the stomach returning to something,
like its normal capacity and the feeling of emptiness disappearing.

     The wheat ata or flour of the diets for Behari prisoners is prepared from the
whole grain by prison labour by means of small grinding stones. If a grain of wheat
be cut and examined microscopically, the following parts can be made out:—

      1. The germ or embryo representing about 1.5 per cent. of the whole grain.
      2. The kernel or endosperm consisting of two large masses of nutritive
              material. It makes up 85 per cent. of the grain.

      3. The bran—an outer envelope composed mainly of cellulose impregnated
              with mineral matter. It forms about 13.5 per cent. of the grain.

In the method of stone grinding the bran is removed, the meal or flour consisting
of the products of the germ and endosperm together. The exclusion of the bran
from the flour entails a loss of mineral matter and some protein from the inner or
aleurone cells.

     This flour is baked into "chuppaties" of different sizes—five ounces of wheat
ata providing about six and a half ounces of "chuppaties." The "chuppatie" is
non-aërated and is somewhat of the appearance of a thick pancake.

     The chemical analyses of the wheat sent from the different jails show greater
variation than any other of the food materials. This was largely due to the vary-
ing amount of moisture and to the amount of contamination present; some of the
samples were coarse, dirty and badly cleaned, and naturally gave low results. It is
quite probable, however, that wheat grown in different districts shows variation in
chemical composition. This is a side of the question which we did not investigate;
neither did we seek to distinguish between the different sorts of wheat grown in
Bengal and Behar.

     In wheat we get the closest approach in the percentage of its proximate prin-
ciples to the ratio of nitrogen to carbon essential for a suitable diet.

     Further, the fact that it does not when cooked absorb a high percentage of
moisture enhances its value compared with other cereals and particularly with rice.
It would, therefore, appear probable that large quantities of "chuppaties " could
be consumed without danger of their bulk interfering with absorption. This
may be true if they were given alone or with a concentrated form of food such
as meat, fish, etc., but it does not hold good for the combination exemplified in the
dietaries of Behar jails.

    We found that, combined with constant quantities of rice, dal and vegetables,
up to about ten ounces of wheat ata per man daily the absorption was at a maxi-
mum; beyond this amount a diminution in the amount of protein undergoing
metabolism took place. Whether this would be the case if the wheat ata were
baked and aërated. by European methods we are not prepared to say; but there