The more debilitated the body is, the more forcibly these stimuli act upon it. Hence, according to Mr. Volney, the Bedouins, whose slender diet has been mentioned, enjoy good health; for this consists not in strength, but in an exact proportion being kept up between the excitability of the body, and the number and force of the stimuli which act upon it. V. Many of the observations which have been made upon the inhabitants of Africa, and of the Turkish dominions, apply to the inhabitants of China and the East-Indies. They want, in many instances, the stimulus of animal food. Their minds are, moreover, in a state too languid to act with much force upon their bodies. The absence and deficiency of these stimuli are supplied by, 1. The heat of the climate in the southern parts of those countries. 2. By a vegetable diet abounding in nourishment, particularly rice and beans. 3. By the use of tea in China, and by a stimulating coffee made of the dried and toasted seeds of the datura stramonium, in the neighbourhood of the Indian coast. Some of these nations likewise chew stimulating substances, as too many of our citizens do tobacco. Among the poor and depressed subjects of the governments of the middle and southern parts of Europe, the deficiency of the stimulus of wholesome food, of clothing, of fuel, and of liberty, is supplied, in some countries, by the invigorating influence of the christian religion upon animal life, and in others by the general use of tea, coffee, garlic, onions, opium, tobacco, malt liquors, and ardent spirits. The use of each of these stimuli seems to be regulated by the circumstances of climate. In cold countries, where the earth yields its increase with reluctance, and where vegetable aliment is scarce, the want of the stimulus of distension which that species of food is principally calculated to produce is sought for in that of ardent spirits. To the southward of 40°, a substitute for the distension from mild vegetable food is sought for in onions, garlic, and tobacco. But further, a uniform climate calls for more of these artificial stimuli than a climate that is exposed to the alternate action of heat and cold, winds and calms, and of wet and dry weather. Savages and ignorant people likewise require more of them than persons of civilized manners, and cultivated understandings. It would seem from these facts that man cannot exist without _sensation_ of some kind, and that when it is not derived from natural means, it will always be sought for in such as are artificial.