ABSTRACT
When we regard the position of a family, living without regular or frequent communication with the outside world, it is comparatively easy to comprehend the conditions which determine whether its supplies of the necessaries and comforts of life are abundant or meagre. The extent of its resources, whether consisting in the strength, intelligence, knowledge, endurance, industry, foresight, etc., of its members, and their willingness to co-operate for purposes where associated effort is more effective than individual effort; or in the equipment of tools and materials, domestic animals, buildings, etc.; or in the natural conditions of the country where they live, its climate, richness of soil, forests and streams, and the like—all these things can be fairly comprehended and their general bearing on the life of the family understood. The advantages which might accrue from communications with other such family groups, and exchange of goods with them, can also be readily conceived. The sources of abundance and scarcity are plainly revealed.
