of being stored for indefinite periods. In Egypt, China, and those parts of southern Asia whence we obtain the most ancient records of agriculture, the cereals, wheat, rice, millet, &c., have formed the principal crops for more than five thousand years. In Arabia and parts of northern Africa, where the climate prohibits the growth of corn, the date-palm furnishes the principal food of the inhabitants, the fruit being well fitted for storing. In the New World the farinaceous seeds of the quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), and the maize, or Indian corn (Zea mays), originally formed the chief food of the Peruvians and Mexicans. Agriculture may thus be divided into two classes—the agriculture of the monotonous climates and the agriculture of the variable climes. From the facts that in the northern portions of the Old World, where the art is of comparatively recent introduction, it commenced at once with the growth of corn, and that even in the Malay Islands, though the ancient plants above referred to are still grown, they are of secondary importance compared with rice, it might at once be inferred that in the ancient Malay agriculture we have the more primitive form of the art. Before finally accepting this conclusion, which would at once locate the birthplace of agriculture within or near the equatorial belt, it would be well to look a little more into the history of the art and its probable origin. Going back sufficiently far in the history of mankind, we arrive at a period when all existing races subsisted on the wild or spontaneous productions of the earth,* “Origin of Civilization.” Sir J. Lubbock. supplying themselves with animal food by hunting and fishing, and vegetable food by collecting wild fruits and roots. In every quarter of the globe evidences of this period have been obtained, either from ancient burial-grounds or other human remains, our knowledge being further extended by a study of still-existing savage races. From these various sources we learn that in ancient as in modern times the dwellers in high latitudes subsisted chiefly on animal food, while those living nearer to the equator were largely dependent on vegetable products. Thus the Esquimaux, Samoyedes,† “Voyage of the ‘Vega’.” Nordenskiold. and other inhabitants of the Arctic regions have frequently no other vegetable diet than the lichen obtained from, the stomach of the reindeer, slain in the chase, and a species of fungus is the only vegetable the natives of Tierra del Fuego add to their scanty diet of fish. ‡ “Voyage of a Naturalist.” Darwin. On the other hand, the Digger Indians of California, one of the lowest of the aboriginal races, derive their name from the quantities