THE DOCTRINE OF MALTHUS. 19 



worthless wood ; if you encourage breeding, as 

 in the instance of the trout, and carefully, too 

 carefully, preserve the fish, they will soon 

 multiply in excess, and be in danger of starving 

 each other. Were their numbers thinned, so 

 that what remained might have a sufficiency 

 of food, I have no doubt the trout of the 

 Lathkin would soon be worthy of, and recover, 

 their old repute. I have known instances of 

 the like kind, of waters overstocked having 

 fish of indifferent quality, and of their im- 

 proving in quality and size on their numbers 

 being diminished. 



AMICUS. I fancy, from what you say, you are 

 a disciple of Malthus, who, if I recollect rightly, 

 advocates the principle, that the amount of 

 population must be regulated by the amount of 

 supply of subsistence. 



PISCATOR. In a large sense, I adopt his 

 doctrine, which, in principle, I think unim- 

 peachable, so long as man and the same may 

 be said of other animals, and of plants, in 

 brief, of all organic living things cannot exist 

 without food ; and so long as the tendency is in 

 the instance of man, and of other animals 

 inhabiting a suitable climate, that is, a 



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