The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-03-13
The Subsistence Question--RIsh CuIturs
aud Fowl Incubation.

Less tnan nlty years bRo, lHOIlus hOUeTt
Nautilus departed this life. During the
space Of forty years before his demise lie
held tho world uneasy, so to speak, on the
important question Of human subsistence,
In l7OS tho subject had so Impressed him
that he published a ponderous volume to
prove that II humanity'kept on populattng
at the then existing ratio, and means for
supporting life could not be greatly tx:
tended, mankind were fated 10 early and
cOndign starvation, particularly that pOr.
ton OF the human race which inhabited
the British Isles. The apolOgists OF Nal.
thus now say that he neglected to take
into consideration the benetlcent element
Of free trade, and meant that Great
Britain and Ireland could not within
the then existing forty years produce
enough meats and breadstulfs for the
consumption Of the people. twenty-five
years alter the appearance OF his book
there were q, $50, SS7 souls in the United
Kingdom, including the neighbOring isl.
ands, and fifty years afterward, 81 ,Sj7, 3iS
lIeiore the death Of Nautilus, In 1895, the
human caters aud drinkers under the Brit.
isIl flag, at home, reached the fearful nHnI.
Der OF twenty.thfee millions, and still the
business OF marrying, giving IN lnarriage,
and consequent increase OF population
went on. 30 wonder the patriotic and
yexed soul Of the philosopher sought ont
inventions for checking the incoming
crowd and avCrtlng the awful fate which
he thought he saw impending. He and
his disciples deemed war blessing, while
a pestilence to decimate the human race
occasionally was All order Of Providence
particularly desirable. Artificial proven.
lives OF population were seriously COM
mGnded.
While Nautilus and hisschool were thus
exercised, the teeming earth was not only
becoming increasingly populous, but the
pabulum for human subsistence was in
creasing even in more rapid ratio.
Gradually the metropolis Of the British
empire yielded over the egg supply Of the
home islands TO the provinces, and drew
her own ovicular staple from France. The
French, growing rich by the traffic, EN-.
ployed their hens as laying agents, and
Matched out the chickens by machinery
and by the million. From this agency alone
Il would doubtless have been possible 10
subsist all the natural increment Of British
population, but the maritime surroundings
of the fast anchored isle naturally suggest
Ell renewed resort to the brine for the iinny
treasures-,he ineXhaustible stores Ofunc.
tious ediblcs-therein contained Mean
time the North American Continent has
been demonstrated to serve rs the all.conl.
petent feeder OF the generations. While
Nautilus fearful volume has been fading
out the AK and the pillow have followed the
track OF the hunter and the warrior, and
their operations have proven that the
thousand million human beings which in
habit the earth could he sustained from
this portion OF It alone. The United States
have increased from a population OF $685..
$50 in 1870 to IS, 69G.0A in 1870, and while
thus the souls and bodies were quad
rupling, the means OF sustaining
life have increased in an arithmeticaI
ratio, 10 that there is more comfort and
better living among our people now than
there was in 1890. DietetiC science and
medical skill combined have actually cur.
tailed mortality; and although the arts oil
war were appealed TO in 1861; and fatal.
ity ensued which must have delighted IN
ardent Malthusian, yet his faith has been
COMPOUNDED by the stupendous stimula,
ton Of bread and meat production. II
be victory OF wartO make room for com.
ing populations, Peace hath n more glorl-
GUS fruition in providing for the health,
happiness and physical development Of
the imminent millions.
And this brings us TO another magnific.
ent invention" for aiding TO The sub.
stance OF teeming humanity, to wit: That
OF pisciCulturet; an art which under the
patronage Of our State Governments, is
looming up to vast proportions. There is
no economic device which is more rapidly
and benefCently expanding than that oil
artiiCially formulating and propagating
the finny tribe. 1t has been discovered
that species which were supposed incapa,
BILE OF flourishing without their peculiar
habitats, may really be improved by plac.
ing them under new conditions. The
California salmon (sulmO quinnaf, trans.
ported to the Delaware River, disports
with new vig0r, and soon expands from
the inanimate ovum to a delicious fish,
The brook trout Is. frOntRdiis), to obtain
which the adventurous fisherman used to
repair to the wilds OF tho Memphremagog
or AdirOndacSs, may now be captured in
the brooklcts OF Northern Ohio. Though
the sea loving shad, deposited in the
rivers Of Central Ohio, seem to have reck.
oned that too much unexpected OF them
and have failed to return from
their first long swim to the Gull OF Mexico
yet the unctious white fish, a choiceI
piscatory edible, has so kindly responded
10 the artificial means for increasing It's
volume, and decimating his natural enc.
mics, that, for the last season, his kind
have been sold at the lake fisheries al
three cents per pound, barely above the
cost OF handling. Not only pious sectar.
lists may obtain their lenten staple, OF the
choicest kind, at the cheapest rates, but
the epiCure and bon vivant may even now
feed upon the most recherche dishes
poissons delicieuX-at the lowest prices.
In fact, the MalthuSians, in reckoning
for the future. appearto have neglected the
fish element altogher, however they may
have included eggs and poultry in their
calculation. They apparently forget that
when Adam, through his posterity, was
commanded to subdue aud replenish the
earth-the entire mundane periphery
the sea as well as the land-was included
in the commission. Success, we saw, then,
TO the hatcherics, on the sea and on shore
Until the habitable globe shall teen with
q human population OF at least fifty TO tho
square mile, the world will have no use
for another Nautilus,
Death Of Mrs. Gen, sherman.