September. Or the three hundred and eighty mil lions of China three-fifths probably live on rice and two-fifths on small millet and wheat. Rice as compared with other cereals contains a smaller proportion of heat-giving substances and a larger proportion of muscle-feeding matter. Dr. Dudgeon, in his Diet, Dress and Dwellings of the Chinese, gives the proportion in rice as one to ten, while it is one part in five for wheat' and one part in two and a half for beans. The less heating grain is by natural tion preferred by the inhabit live with a high thermometer and have a mild winter. foo much of heating constituents would be inconvenient in south China, and consequently rive becomes the people's food by preference. Wheat flourishes in countries where the iuters are cold, A frozen soil does not interfere with its life, because it has heating qualities of itsuwn. "he rivers are frozen hard enough in the winter in North China to be crossed by loaded wains, and there. the wheat grown is a better article than that of Kiangsu where rice flourishes, There is a preference felt in the north fur wheat flour as food, by all who can afford to buy it. Here too we see the principle of natur: selection unconsciously at work. he northern people prefer that food which is most heat-giving and nourishing. This gives them their tall physique, for they are as a rule taller than the Chinese of the central provinces. Many southern: men are of no small stature, but there isa larger percentage of tall wen in the north than in the provinces farther south, Yet nine-tenths of the country people in the north live on millet and maize, because they are the cheapest food in the market. In their case it may be a cold atmosphere which makes them tall. 'The great poverty of the people also compels them to select that grain which costs least in the market to be the staff of their life. In the north wheat is the food of the rich, millet of the poor, but maize is now every year, through' its great productiveness. and consequent cheapness, becoming a more popular article of daily consumption.
The hot summer of North China ripens a large variety of articles of food. the valleys and on the mountain sides of northern Chihli many fruits. are gathered and laid up in store for winter use. Chestnuts for instance as an article of food of a satisfying nature are the best of the North China fruits. In the mountain districts of France, Spain and Italy chestnuts are the chief article of food in many localities. As containing much albumen, this fruit is specially adapted for human food. While never becoming in North Chinathe chief article of food, roast chestnuts are found in winter in all the markets. The persimmon in North China takes the place of figs when dried, and the preserved jujube takes the place of the fruit of the date palm. Glutinous rice. is a valuable product of the central provinces,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.