258 NATURAL HISTORY 
and in itself is of the utmost consequence to man. 
kind, and productive of many of the greatest com- 
forts and elegances of life. To plants we owe 
timber, bread, beer, honey, wine, oil, linen, cotton, 
&c.: what not only strengthens our hearts and ex- 
hilarates our spirits, but what secures us from in- 
clemencies of the weather and adorns our persons. 
Man, in his true state of nature, seems to be sub- 
sisted by spontaneous vegetation ; in middle climes, 
where grasses prevail, he mixes some animal food 
with the produce of the field and garden ; and it is 
towards the polar extremes only that, like his kin- 
dred, bears and wolves, he gorges himself with flesh 
alone, and is driven to what hunger has never been 
known to im Jon the very beasts—to prey upon his 
own species.* 
The productions of vegetation have had a vast 
influence on the commerce of nations, and have 
been the great promoters of navigation, as may be 
seen in the articles of sugar, tea, tobacco, opium, 
ginseng, betel, pepper, &c. As every climate has 
its peculiar produce, our natural wants bring on a 
mutual intercourse, so that, by means of trade, each 
distant part is supplied with the growth of every 
latitude. But, without the knowledge of plants and 
their culture, we must have been content with our 
hips and haws, without enjoying the delicate fruits 
of India, and the salutiferous drugs of Peru. 
Instead of examining the minute distinctions of 
every various species of each obscure genus, the 
botanist should endeavour to make himself ac. 
quainted with those that are useful. You shall see 
a man readily ascertain every herb of the field, yet 
* See the late voyages to the South Seas. 
