History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised EditionDraper, John William
History
History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2): Revised Edition
Draper, John William
Europe -- Civilization
All over the world physical circumstances control the human race. They
make the Australian a savage; incapacitate the negro, who can never
invent an alphabet or an arithmetic, and whose theology never passes
beyond the stage of sorcery. They cause the Tartars to delight in a
diet of milk, and the American Indian to abominate it. They make the
dwarfish races of Europe instinctive miners and metallurgists. An
artificial control over temperature by dwellings, warm for the winter
and cool for the summer; variations of clothing to suit the season of
the year, and especially the management of fire, have enabled man to
maintain himself in all climates. The invention of artificial light has
extended the available term of his life; by giving the night to his use,
it has, by the social intercourse it encourages, polished his manners
and refined his tastes, perhaps as much as any thing else has aided in
his intellectual progress. Indeed, these are among the primary
conditions that have occasioned his civilization. Variety of natural
conditions gives rise to different national types, artificial inventions
occasion renewed modifications. Where there are many climates there will
be many forms of men. Herein, as we shall in due season discover, lies
the explanation of the energy of European life, and the development of
its civilization.
Would any one deny the influence of rainy days on our industrial habits
and on our mental condition even in a civilized state? With how much
more force, then, must such meteorological incidents have acted on the
ill-protected, ill-clad, and ill-housed barbarian! Would any one deny
the increasing difficulty with which life is maintained as we pass from
the southern peninsulas to the more rigorous climates of the north?
There is a relationship between the mean annual heat of a locality and
the instincts of its inhabitants for food. The Sicilian is satisfied
with a light farinaceous repast and a few fruits; the Norwegian requires
a strong diet of flesh; to the Laplander it is none the less acceptable
if grease of the bear, or train oil, or the blubber of whales be added.
Meteorology to no little extent influences the morals; the instinctive
propensity to drunkenness is a function of the latitude. Food, houses,
clothing, bear a certain relation to the isothermal lines.
[Sidenote: But, through artificial inventions, it tends to
homogeneousness in modern times.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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