151 



trees, to places where tliey are needed, and where they -will flourish. 

 The potato, originating in the mountains under the equator, has 

 extended its range, north and south, over a space wider than that 

 occupied by any cereal grain, and furnishes food for millions of the 

 human race. 



2. Its Uses. 



The influence of different kinds of food upon the civilization of 

 nations, is a subject that might well engage our attention. I shall 

 only observe, that as nations advance in civilization, they require a 

 greater variety of food, and more skill in its preparation. Savages 

 live on a few articles, and those imperfectly cooked. Those persons 

 who commend the superior simplicity of savage fare, and condemn 

 the refinements of modern living, forget that savages neither live 

 long, nor increase their numbers. Man is an omnivorous animal. 

 His teeth and stomach show that he was made to eat flesh, vegetables, 

 and fruit ; and generally we find that health and comfort are pro- 

 moted by a due admixture of all. Neither the Esquimaux, Avho live 

 on animal food, nor the East Indians, who live chiefly on rice, attain 

 a high development of body or mind. 



Ireland may be quoted as an illustration of the social results of 

 living on one or a few articles of food. We may presume that, 

 before potatoes were introduced into general use, the Irish lived, as 

 the English did, on meat and bread ; and it is certain that if the 

 English were to abandon meat and bread, and undertake to live on 

 potatoes, they would incur the same risk of starving that the Irish 

 do. Even in favorable years there is a time of six or eight weeks, 

 just before harvest, when the Irish poor endure intense privation. 

 When a nation is reduced to one article of food, and that the 

 cheapest, the difficulty is that, in a bad season, they have nothing 

 to fall back upon — they are already at the bottom of the hill. Had 

 they lived on meat and grain, they might have substituted a coarser 

 fare ; but there is no going behind the coarsest. Considering the 

 peculiar social state of Ireland, and especially the distribution and 

 tenure of land, the introduction of potatoes can scarcely be regarded 

 as a blessing. True, doctors disagree. Humboldt says that, " from 

 time immemorial, no plant has had so decided an influence on the 

 prosperity of mankind as the potato." * But Dr. Smee observes 



* New Spain, vol. 2, p. 449. 



