Diet and Race. By F. P. Armitage. (Longmans. 7s. 6d.
net.) —In spite of the widely varying and very definite views on the dieting of school boys which have found expression in the correspondence* columns of the Times, the truth is that very
little is known about diet. It is true that physiologists have made many important and useful investigations concerning food and feeding, but, as Professor Starling recently said in another connection, the physiologist can tell you the moves in the game, but cannot tell you how to play it. The calory value of foods can be ascertained, the processes of assimilation can be investigated, the necessity of salts and certain accessory factors can be pointed out, and yet we may be far from pro- ducing a satisfactory diet. There is more in dieting than minute attention to the ascertained facts of physiological science. Therefore, although we do not find much of weight in Mr. Armitage's anthropological essays, we are grateful to him for attacking a sadly negleeted subject, and for collecting a mass of information, relating to the diets of various races, that is probably inaccessible in any other small volume. The first essay on "Diet and Physique" is the best of the three. Although other factors have, no doubt, to be taken into consideration, the author shows that there is a close connexion between diet and bodily development. The second essay on "Diet and Colour" is more contentious, but the suggestion that the eating of salt may tend to fairness of skin is well supported by the dietary. of the many races referred to. The last essay on "Diet and Cranial Form" is probably very sound, but the mathematical diagrams will appeal only to the experts.
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