446 Of Food. 



grows in almost all climates ; and though it does not 

 succeed remarkably well in Great Britain, and in some 

 parts of Germany, yet it may easily be had in great 

 abundance from other countries, and commonly at a 

 very low rate. 



The common people in the northern parts of Italy 

 live almost entirely upon it; and throughout the whole 

 continent of America it makes a principal article 

 of food. In Italy it is called polenta, where it is 

 prepared or cooked in a variety of ways, and forms 

 the basis of a number of very nourishing dishes. The 

 most common way however of using it in that country 

 is to grind it into meal, and with water to make it 

 into a thick kind of pudding, like what in this country 

 is called a hasty pudding, which is eaten with various 

 kinds of sauce, and sometimes without any sauce. 



In the northern parts of North America, the com- 

 mon household bread throughout the country is com- 

 posed of one part of Indian meal and one part of rye- 

 meal ; and I much doubt whether a more wholesome 

 or more nourishing kind of bread can be made. 



Rice is universally allowed to be very nourishing, 

 much more so even than wheat ; but there is a circum- 

 stance well known to all those who are acquainted with 

 the details of feeding the negro slaves in the southern 

 states of North America, and in the West Indies, that 

 would seem to prove, in a very decisive and satisfactory 

 manner, that Indian corn is even more nourishing than 

 rice. In those countries, where rice and Indian corn 

 are both produced in the greatest abundance, the 

 negroes have frequently had their option between 

 these two kinds of food, and have invariably preferred 

 the latter. The reasons they give for this preference 



