which some writers present this matter that
society moved forward in regular order, column after column. From the
formal and forcible way in which they have presented the history of
early society, one might imagine that a certain tribe, having become
weary of tending cattle and goats, resolved one {40} fine morning to
change from the pastoral life to agriculture, and that all of the
tribes on earth immediately concluded to do the same, when, in truth,
the change was slow and gradual, while the centuries passed away.

It is well to consider that in the expanded industrial life of man the
old was not replaced, but supplemented, by the new, and that after the
pastoral stage was entered, man continued to hunt and fish, and that
after formal agriculture was begun the tending of flocks and herds
continued, and fishing was practised at intervals. But each succeeding
occupation became for the time the predominant one, while others were
relatively subordinate. Even to-day, while we have been rushing
forward in recent years at a rapid rate, under the power of steam and
electricity, agriculture and commerce have made marvellous improvement.
Though we gain the new, nothing of the old is lost. The use of flocks
and herds, as well as fish and game, increases each year, although not
relatively.

_Progress Is Through the Food Supply_.--This is only another view of
the economic life. The first period is called the natural subsistence
period, when man used such food as he found prepared for him by nature.
It corresponds to the primal nomadic period of the last classification.
From this state he advanced to the use of fish for food, and then
entered the third period, when native grains were obtained through a
limited cultivation of the soil. After this followed a period in which
meat and milk were the chief articles of food. Finally the period of
extended and permanent agriculture was reached, and farinaceous food by
cultivation became the main support of life. The significance of this
classification is observed in the fact that the amount, variety, and
quality of the food available determine the possibility of man's
material and spiritual advancement. As the food supply lies at the
foundation of human existence, prosperity is measured to a large extent
by the food products. The character of the food affects to a great
extent the mental and moral capabilities of man; that is, it {41}
limits the possibilities of civilization.