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nally very little, if at all, wiser than brutes, tell ns, that, in thefir-t ages, men lived upon acorns, berries, and such fruits as theearth spontaneously produces ; that they next proceeded to catthe tle.sli of wild animals taken in hunting ; but the number ofthese decreasing, and mankind multiplying, necessity taught themthe art of cultivating the ground, sowing corn, &c. That afterthis, reason suggests the expedient of domesticating certain ani-mals, both to assist them in their labours and supply them withfood: that hogs were the first animals of the domestic kind thatappealed upon their tables; that they held it to be ungrateful tode vour the beasts that assisted their) in their labours, &r. But allthis is at best conjectural, unsupported by any bettt r authority,than that of the fabulous Ilcrodotus. Nay the fact seems to be,that animal and vegetable food, such as we now' use, w ere bothmade use of in the very first age of the world. Moses, tlie mostancient, as well as the most authentic of historians, informs us, that“ Abel wits a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the groundwhence we may fairly presume, that sheep were then kept andted, as thev now are, for the sake of their mutton ; for we cannotsuppose the woollen manufacture to have been among the mostearly inventions, though the skins untanned might serve for cloatli-hig. As to cookery, it is supposes!, and seems not improbable,that all animal food was at first only roasted, and that boiling wasa later invention, liven in the present age the inhabitants ofOlaheile are said to have been entirely unacquainted with it, tillthe Europeans visited them. The eating of fish too seems also tohave been of a much later date than that of tlesh. Homer makesMenelaus complain that they had been constrained to eat them,h bough originally designed to be a blessing to mankind, as well? s their support, lood may, in many cases, by our abuse of it, bejustly considered as a curse : for we do not hesitate to affirm, thatthe injudicious conduct of parents and nurses, during infancy, andthe early years of childhood, lays the foundation of those numer-ous dbeases, which, at a malurer age arise from indigestion, andhave, in many families, become hereditary. The aliment of chil-dren ought to be adapted to their age, and the strength of theirdigestive powers. Hence they ought by no means to be fed imfboderately, and promiscuously with every kind of food: as, bythis indulgence, the fust passages are distended, and their stomachsfpuduailv acquire an unnatural craving for victuals, before the pre-'■eding meal is properly assimilated. Such conduct is particularlyusurious dming the first year of their age: for, when their sto-machs become more vigorous, they may be enabled, by slow de-P r<l es, to digest different kinds of victuals, the nature and properties° ! "Inch are extremely opposite; though excess in quantity is al-"’ a >' s hurtful. No food whatever, that has been prepared formany hours, should be given to children, especially after being"armed up, as it generates flatulence, heart-burn, costiveness, anda variety of disorders which are equally painful and difficult to re-' n °ve. Sudden changes from liquid to solid food are equally dan-gerous: one kind of aliment only, should be given at each meal,’■* moderate portions ; and not a multiplicity ot incongruous mix-,llr es, in immediate succession, such as broth or soup, meat boiled° r roasted, after taking milk, fruit, &r. All stimulating dishes,P rp pared for adults, as w ell as beer, wine, spices, coffee, and other'eating liquors, should be carefully with-held from children ; as' ( ‘y otten occasion the most afflictive complaints, for instance,yuctations, vomiting, spasms, and convulsions, especially during'•"ntition ; and, if the hapless victims of indulgence survive that pe-„ lo d, they become liable to other tormenting diseases, the most.pjquent of which are the scurvy, scrophula, and consumption.

I "‘re is another abuse in the feeding of children, which cannot^ too seriously reprehended, namely, to introduce chewed vic-s Ul1 s into their mouth, a practice equally disgusting and umvhole-^Tung and healthy mothers, it lias been said, may safely• l !*°nn this office for their children: but, in such ease, it is re-I'lisiie n la t the p ; - n . n t q e j n a complete state of health, that shel' rov ided with sound teeth, and rinse her mouth previouslyn -,■ ' Klre wa tcr. Under these circumstances, she may venture tom • ? rm .mastication, though it would he more adviseable to relin-'ahl l )ra< tice, and to give infants such food only as they are

] chew and digest. Vegetables arc, with a few exceptions,'ae difficult of digestion than animal food; hut a due propor-trm ,?^ Jmth, with the addition of acids, during the summerlll 'is, is alike grateful and conducive to health. On the whole,VOL. n.-— no, mi.

the flesh of young quadrupeds is less nutritive than after they haveattained a proper age ; though it will, in general, be more easilyconverted into alimentary matter. In a salted state, meat nitonly loses a considerable part of its gelatinous and spirituous par-ticles, hut it likewise becomes oppressive to the digestive or;, an,and imparts a degree of acrimony to the human fluids, which Hasa remarkable tendency to generate putrid diseases, such as thescurvy of mariners, lienee it would he a desirable object to as-certain, by accurate experiments, whether beef, potk, fke. mightnot he kept fresh at sea for many months, merely by burying it-in charcoal-powder, of which it could he easily divo.-lcd by pro-per ablution. Such is our decided opinion, and we venture torecommend this important subject to the farther researches of pa-triotic inquirers. With respect to the quantity of food, there isone general rule, which ought never to he disregarded ; namely,to cease eating, when the first cravings of appetite are satisfied, soas to renovate the waste which the body has apparently sustained,ily a strict adherence to this principle, many ot those distressingcomplaints arising from intemperance, might he effectually obvi-ated ; and our fashionable watering-places would not he so fre-quently crowded by the victims of luxury.

Food of Plants, an expression in agriculture and gardening,by which is understood whatever tends to increase the growth, oraffords nourishment to vegetable productions. The properchoice and distribution of this food, in such manner as to ensurethe greatest advantage to vegetation, is an object deserving themost attentive exertion of every skilful husbandman. The com-ponent parts of the nourishment of plants are supposed to lie air,heat, water, earth, and nitre ; hut it is by no means ascertained,which ot these ingredients principally contributes to their grow thand reproduction. Various opinions have been held respectingthe existence of an aerial acid spirit; hut, from the late disco-veries in chemistry, this invisible agent appears to he no otherthan what is now termed oxygen gas, or the acidifying principle,bv the powerful influence ot which even iron is oxidated, or con-verted into rust: and, as this vital gas is an essential constituentof the atmosphere, all plants necessarily partake of its animatingproperties. Thus nitre is said to nourish them ; because it con-tains a large portion of oxygen ; though it is certain that saltpetreonly prepares other substances to effect that purpose: thus, ifnitre, in a solid or liquid state, be applied to the root of a plant,it will destroy it; but if it he placed at a distance, it attenuates,and decomposes, the viscous and naturally pernicious matters con-tained in the earth, so as to render them fit for supplying vegeta-bles with nutriment. Water contributes to the growth of plantsin a very material degree : hence arose the art of floating land indry seasons, without which vegetables would perish for want ofmoisture. See Irrigation. Air, on account of its elasticity, i?absolutely necessary to the increment of vegetables; warmth isof equal importance, because no plant can thrive without somedegree of heat. Rut, doubtless, the chief article is earth ; w hich,being prepared by the nitrous, and other volatile salts, such asare generated in dung, not less than by water ami air, is assimilat-ed to the nature of plants; constitutes a part of them ; and is in-separable from them : but, if water, air, and heal, he taken away,the plant will still exist; though, from the want of those ele-ments, it lias ceased to vegetate. The excess of nitre, air, water,and heat, however, is a proof that these articles do not constitutethe proper, or only food of plants. Thus, too great a propor-tion of nitre, or other salts, corrodes, and deprives them of vege-table life; too much water drowns them ; too great a degree ofair dries their roots : and too much heat shrivels and burnsthem ; hut there cannot he too large a proportion of earth, unlessthe plant he too deeply buried under it, so as to exclude the sa-lutary influence of the other elements; in which case it must ne-cessarily perish. Many experiments have lately been made withfactitious gases, in order to ascertain whether the growth of plantsmight he forwarded by such artificial agents; hut, though someof these elastic airs, such as oxygen have been found remarkablyto promote vegetation, vet the expence and trouble, which theseapplications would occasion in the great way, will ever he insu-perable objections to their general introduction. From recent at-tempts to fertilize and stimulate the soil itself, as the growingmedium, with chemical solutions, it appears that water veryslightly impregnated with camphor, or, according to others, withfi D ' tb*