356 PHYSIOLOGY CHAP. 



bread, amongst others the Tahitians and Polynesians, whose flour 

 is made of wild fruits (Letourneau). 



The difficulty which man encounters in supplying himself with 

 food is of course much greater in some parts of the globe than in 

 others ; only in the tropics does he find enough nutritious plants 

 and game to provide for his wants without any trouble on his 

 part ; when therefore he found his way from the tropical to the 

 temperate or frigid zones, and had destroyed a large amount of 

 the game which abounded in those far-off days in the forests, had 

 fished and gathered the wild fruits, he soon began to feel the 

 need of a more rational system, and took to agriculture and the 

 breeding of cattle, which ethnologists agree in considering the basis 

 of all higher civilisation. 



We may here point out that there are still certain Australian 

 racesjiving in regions rich in food-stuffs, who are quite unacquainted 

 with both agriculture and cattle-breeding. Others, the Hottentots 

 for instance, are first-rate cattle-breeders but quite ignorant of 

 agriculture. 



In addition to what we have already said on page 44 as to the 

 need felt by certain African negro races of mixing salt with their 

 food, we may call to mind E. Poch's remarks on the Melanesians 

 of New Guinea. He found that the natives of British New 

 Guinea, who live mainly on a vegetable diet, use the salt which 

 they extract from sea-water. They not only cook their food in 

 salt water, but evaporate the water in receptacles in which they 

 place pieces of porous wood which become impregnated with salt 

 and are then regarded as articles of commerce. 



The inland tribes come down to the coast to get sea-salt; 

 amongst these tribes rock-salt is the most coveted article of 

 commerce. On the other hand, the natives of Dutch New Guinea 

 never use salt and have no word for it in their language. They 

 inhabit a region where game is abundant and, being skilful 

 hunters and fishermen, live mainly on animal food. This agrees 

 with Bunge's theory that the need for salt in the food depends 

 upon the diet. 



We cannot close our remarks on the nutrition of the human 

 race without alluding to a special kind of animal food eaten by 

 certain savage races which has always called forth feelings of 

 horror and disgust amongst civilised peoples Cannibalism, that 

 outrage on humanity, which is not, however, so widespread as is 

 commonly supposed. Bergmann (1898), who made a special and 

 thorough study of existing records of the subject, considers that 

 in our day cannibalism is practised by the races of Oceania, 

 central Africa, and South America. The Battas of Sumatra, the 

 natives of the Solomon Islands, of New Britain, and of certain 

 islands in the New Hebrides are incorrigible cannibals. The 

 other inhabitants of Oceania are gradually abandoning it. In 



