III. In Greenland the body is exposed during a long winter to such a degree of cold as to reduce the pulse to 40 or 50 strokes in a minute. But the effects of this cold in lessening the quantity of life are obviated in part by the heat of close stove rooms, by warm clothing, and by the peculiar nature of the aliment of the Greenlanders, which consists chiefly of animal food, of dried fish, and of whale oil. They prefer the last of those articles in so rancid a state, that it imparts a f[oe]tor to their perspiration, which, Mr. Crantz says, renders even their churches offensive to strangers. I need hardly add, that a diet possessed of such diffusible qualities cannot fail of being highly stimulating. It is remarkable that the food of all the northern nations of Europe is composed of stimulating animal or vegetable matters, and that the use of spiritous liquors is universal among them. IV. Let us next turn our eyes to the miserable inhabitants of those eastern countries which compose the Turkish empire. Here we behold life in its most feeble state, not only from the absence of physical, but of other stimuli which operate upon the inhabitants of other parts of the world. Among the poor people of Turkey there is a general deficiency of aliment. Mr. Volney in his Travels tells us, "That the diet of the Bedouins seldom exceeds six ounces a day, and that it consists of six or seven dates soaked in butter-milk, and afterwards mixed with a little sweet milk, or curds." There is likewise a general deficiency among them of stimulus from the operations of the mental faculties; for such is the despotism of the government in Turkey, that it weakens not only the understanding, but it annihilates all that immense source of stimuli which arises from the exercise of the domestic and public affections. A Turk lives wholly to himself. In point of time he occupies only the moment in which he exists; for his futurity, as to life and property, belongs altogether to his master. Fear is the reigning principle of his actions, and hope and joy seldom add a single pulsation to his heart. Tyranny even imposes a restraint upon the stimulus which arises from conversation, for "They speak (says Mr. Volney) with a slow feeble voice, as if the lungs wanted strength to propel air enough through the glottis to form distinct articulate sounds." The same traveller adds, that "They are slow in all their motions, that their bodies are small, that they have small evacuations, and that their blood is so destitute of serosity, that nothing but the greatest heat can preserve its fluidity." The deficiency of aliment, and the absence of mental stimuli in these people is supplied, 1. By the heat of their climate. 2. By their passion for musical sounds and fine clothes. And 3. By their general use of coffee, garlic[98], and opium. [98] Niebuhr's Travels.