Ghap. III. ANTIENT METAPHYSICS. 39 



am perfuaded, men lived upon the herbs and roots which the earth 

 produced. And indeed, men in the firft ftage of their natural ftate, 

 when they walked upon all four, could not fupport themfelves other- 

 wife : for I do not think that at firfl they would feek food from the 

 trees ; and accordingly it is recorded that Pelafgus firfl: taught the 

 Arcadians to feed on acorns. Peter the Wi/d Boy^ while he was a 

 quadruped in the woods of Hanover, fed upon grafles, and the 

 mofs of trees. This account we have of him from Hanover, im- 

 mediately after he was caught*. And not only can perfedl 

 favages live in that way; bur even men in the civilized lifef. But 

 when men increafed very much in number, which they certainly did 

 in the firft ages of fociety, the natural fruits of the earth could not 

 maintain them. And therefore,, 



cum 



*' See vol. Ill of this work, p. 58. 



f Appian, De Betlis Punicis, p. 6. and 63. in fini, as marked upon the margin of 

 the Litiii tranflation of the Amfterdam edition. In the laft quoted pafiage, fpeaking 

 of the Numidians, he has thcfe words, to. 5roA>,aT*ri »o,a»j4)» Ttoa. (pxyt!,>Tu>, S'l* t« 

 «ys4'§7JiT»» ; which explains the reafon why they fed upon grafs. Diodorus Siculus, 

 lib. 3. cap. 23. where he gives an account of a people in Ethiopia, who live entirely 

 upon the roots of reeds, that grow in the marlhes. See a great deal more upon this 

 fubje£t, which I have collei^ed in vol. III. of this work, p. 371. and following; to 

 which I may add the example of a man from Shetland, wlio died within thefe two or 

 three years. His nanie was Magnus Graham. He was employed by the Hudfon's Bay 

 Company, and loft his way in that country, among the woods, where he remained 

 for about fix months, and had nothing to feed upon all that wjiile, but any wild 

 fruits he could find, which could not be many in fo cold a country, and the bark of 

 the pine tree, which was his chief fubliflance. Upon this diet he lived all the time 

 I have mentioned, and when he at laft found his way back to the factory, he was lean 

 indeed, but in very good health. This account I had from a gentleman who knew 

 him very well, and told me upon what occafion he was wandering in the woods, 

 when he loft his way, and by what accident he got back again to the faiTlcry ; but; 

 thefe particulars it is unnccelT^ry here to relate. 



