THE CHR1J=TIAN NATURALIST. 131 



the different t-pecies of grain which are used for the 

 food of man, in proportion to their diffusion. Though 

 removed far from the parent soil they do not appear to 

 have thereby degenerated in the course of ages, but on 

 the contrary to have become iitore productive, which is 

 not the case with plants in general. What then can afford 

 a more striking proof of the superintending eye of Pro- 

 vidence, which in this instance has exerted so extraor- 

 dinary a degree of vigilance over the beneficial cultiva- 

 tion of those productions, upon which so much of tke 

 temporrl happiness of man is suspended ! 



It must not, however, be forgotten that many ages 

 passed away bef jre the people of this land were able to 

 realize fully the blessings which are here now so libe- 

 rally provided for them by the Great Giver of all good 

 things. It is only within our own sera, that these bles- 

 sings have been placed within the reach of the lowest, 

 as well as the highest classes of society. The poor man 

 has now his wheaten loaf generally as well as the rich 

 man ; and nothing can tend more fully to establish the 

 act of the improved condition of the labouring classes 

 generally, than this circumstance. When we recollect 

 that our ancestors lived upon barley cakes, and that 

 wheat was far too expensive a luxury for any but the 



