At ft conference of Geographers and Statis ticians at Leeds tho other day, Mr E. Or Bavenatein opened tho disoussion from the geographical point of the view. He said he estimated the area of fertile land on the globe at 28,000,000 square miles, tho poor grais lands of steppes at 14,003.000. and tho bare deserts at 4,180,000. The total number of people on the globe he eefc down at 1,468 million, the average for Europe being 101 to the square mile, a proportion which the. land was no longer able to support. There wore, therefore, currents of emigration m ever; direction executing a northerly _ direction. He estimated that the population increased 8 per cent every ten years, and the question be fore them was, how long they would be allowed to go on m the improvident way m whioh they bad been going hitherto. How long would the laDd hold out ? doing over the map, ho had arrived at the conclusion that if he took an average of 207 inhabitants to the square mile he proved a very moderate man. Taking then 207 inhabitants to the, square milo, that gave a total population bt 5.850,700,000. Thiii gave 6,994 millions of human beings as the number which this earth could feed if we wefb content with a reasonable increase of our pre sent allowances, and did not develop into voracious animals. Supposing then that the earth could suitain 5994 millions, and that we wero improvident enough to increase nt tho rate of 8 per cent, of ovory decade, how long would elapse before tbo earth was full ? His estimate was that It would take 182 years. By the year 2072, and m tho tun years whioh preceded, there would have boon addod to the population of the world 435 millions. He thought therefore, so far as wo wero con cerned, we bad no need to make such a tre mendous fuss about the earth being over filled. Wo should not live to see the time when there waa no room on tho earth.
