The series of experiments as a whole, however, is to be considered in the light of additional data bearing on the dietary customs of a people who for generations have apparently lived and thrived on a daily ration noticeably low in its content of proteid, as well as low in its calorific value. As Oshima states, “It is probably fair to infer that the amount of proteid in the dietaries of the classes living largely on vegetable foods (and they constitute the larger part of the population) may not be very far from 60 grams per day,” or 45 grams of digestible proteid. It is reasonable to assume that the people live in this way from force of habit or of necessity, and we may agree with Baelz, a professor connected with the medical faculty of Tokyo University, “that their diet is sufficient from a physiological standpoint.” Doubtless a mixed diet, with a larger proportion of animal food, did their means readily permit, would offer some advantages from the standpoint of palatability and variety, but it is questionable if any material gain in health or strength would result. “It is sometimes remarked,” says Oshima, “that the peasants in the rural districts of Japan, living largely on vegetable food, are really healthier and stronger than people of the better classes, who live on a mixed diet, and the better physical condition of the former is commonly believed to be due to their diet.” This, however, is a difficult matter to decide, since there are so many other factors that are liable to play a part, such as the general conditions of life which are so widely different in the two classes. It is plainly evident that the daily diet of the great bulk of the Japanese people has been characterized by a very low proteid standard, as contrasted with the standards and usages of the majority of European and American people. The fact is brought forward merely as confirmatory evidence, on a large scale, of the perfect safety of lowering the consumption of proteid food to somewhere near the level of the physiological requirements of the body. Generations of low proteid feeding, with the temperance and simplicity in dietary matters thereby implied, have certainly not stood in the way of phenomenal development and advancement when the gateway was opened for the ingress of modern ideas from western civilization. Many changes are sure to follow in the footsteps of the nation’s progress, and among these it is safe to prophesy that as public and private wealth, and resources in general, increase, the dietary of the people will gradually assume a more varied character with corresponding increase in volume. Whether such a change will prove of real benefit to the race, time alone can determine.