with a view to an increase of the supply for food. 

 The waters, as well as the soil of the earth, are 

 laro-ely drawn upon for the subsistance of mankind. 

 The savaee visits the streams and the lakes no less 

 than the woods for the game upon which he lives. 

 And man in a civilized condition of life depends 

 nearly as much upon the products of the fisheries 

 as upon those of the fields. 



Though the land in a state of nature yields each 

 of the various kinds of fruit and grains employed as 

 food, still the supply is only sufficient to maintain 

 man and animals living purely in a state of nature. 

 The principle is simply that of the equilibrium of 

 demand and supply as a natural condition of things. 

 Whenever by the various vicissitudes of season, of 

 soil and of climate, the demand exceeds the natural 

 supply, the equilibrium is preserved through the 

 destruction by famine and by violence of a portion 

 of the population. 



This is the so-called struggle for life, which is 

 more or less observable everywhere among men 

 and animals in a state of nature. Thus the demand 

 is regulated by the supply. 



In other words supply is the independent varia- 

 ble, and demand the dependent one. 



Under a civilized condition of life, on the other 

 hand, supply is regulated by demand, rather than 

 demand by supply. 



The wants of mankind, instead of the means of 

 supplying want, constitute the independent quantity. 

 The supply is constantly being compared with the 

 demand as a standard. 



