[ 334 ] 



rice, maize, bnck-wheat, and *chefiiuts, are the 

 principal food of the inhabitants, yet one may aver, 

 that there is not the fmallcR province, if we except 

 a part of L^ipland, where corn is not the bafisof 

 tlieir nourifhnaent. Europe certainly contains not 

 only fifty, but one hundred and twenty millions; 

 and it is not in Europe only that corn is the prin- 

 cipal food of the inhabitants. 



Monf. LiNGUET makes an exception to this va- 

 luable grain, by faying it will not ripen but in the 

 latitudes between 25 and 60 degrees; but it is pre- 

 cifely in thefe latitudes that population flourifhes 

 the moft; it is there that mankind increafe the fait- 

 eft; the number of the inhabitants of the Torrid 

 and Frigid Zones does not bear any proportion to 

 thofe of the Temperate Zones; and the fuitable- 

 nefs of thefe climates being more favourable both 

 to men and corn, is a ftrong indication, that the 

 one is deftined for the other j befides, there are 

 many places in the Torrid Zone where bread-corn 

 is cultivated j it may therefore be fairly prefumed, 

 that it would grow in many others; and I would 

 boldly afk Monf. Linguet, what other eatable 



•The ufe of cliefnuts, as food, dimiiufhes daily; and it is a com- 

 plaint of the oeconomills of France, that the chefnut-trees are much 

 deftroyed in thofe provinces where they ufed to be in the greatcft 

 plenty, in order to plant mulberr^^-trees in their place, 



graim 



