In the first place the selection of food for this test is no basis
of general choice. The analysis of food for its elemental molecule
values, and for its heat content, is a very difficult thing to do and
takes much time; hence to bring a large variety into a diet during a
test would entail enormous labour on the laboratory staff. Knowing
this difficulty, when I was requested to choose something which
would entirely satisfy my sense of taste gratification so as to best
stimulate the flow of the digestive juices, I chose a cereal with a
known content value. That is to say, I fed from different brands of
cereals, the content value of which was known. A quart of fresh milk a
day furnished the moisture required, and was not every day entirely
consumed. Maple sugar was the most variable ingredient of the diet in
regard to quantity. Of the milk I took nearly or quite one quart each
day, of the cereal I averaged about 150 grams, or say 5 ounces, and the
demand for the sugar varied from 150 grams to 200 grams, or say 5-7
ounces.
This food was taken in at two meals daily,--12-1 and 6-7 P.M.,--and
the time required in taking was 12-14 minutes to the meal, including
any delay necessitated in taking notes and in weighing the food.
These delays were inconsiderable, however, as facilities for weighing
and taking notes were perfected and their use well accustomed by the
subject. The 26-28 minutes per day, then, may be set down as the
careful but industrious eating time required to satisfy the waste and
appetite of a man doing 'Varsity Crew work, as reported by Dr. Anderson
and Professor Chittenden.
The activity outside the prescribed gymnasium exercises and any
supplementary work consisted of awaking very early in the morning
and doing considerable writing upon my typewriter. The agitation
of this nutrition investigation has involved an immense amount of
correspondence to keep the interest stimulated, and for the exchange
of information between the interested parties; hence in addition to
serving as test-subject, there was always much else to do to keep from
getting hopelessly behind in the work.
The writing began anywhere from four to six in the morning in winter,
which was the season of the test, and continued until about seven or
eight, when the exercises were commenced and continued until finished.
Meantime the mail of the morning had come in and frequently demanded
immediate attention, which used up the time until between twelve and
one o'clock, when a first-class appetite had been earned (no craving
of hunger or "all-goneness" in the common form due to the persistence
of habit hunger), and this insured a keen appreciation of taste and
fulfilled all the requirements of a healthy digestion. The afternoon
was always busy, sometimes with a lengthy walk around town, or a game
of billiards when the weather discouraged outside work. The evenings
were strenuous or restful, and were usually employed with conversation,
reading, or a lecture.
Fortunately the simple food selected continued to be agreeable to the
end, and cost an average of only eleven cents per day. When it was
given up to accommodate the service furnished by social meals it was
missed, the habit of supply having become somewhat fixed and expected
by appetite.
In London, in search of the lowest possible economy, the author has
subsisted on about half the cost of the Yale supply; and it is entirely
possible to those needing strictest economy.