Thus broadly we may say that the antagonism between the French and German nationalities is fed by the fact that in race, in culture, in tradition, the one is predominantly Mediterranean, and the other predominantly Teutonic. In the Iberian peninsula, as we have seen, the Mediterranean strain enormously predominates, while in the countries of the north-west the Teutonic race tends to overbalance the other. CHAPTER IX THE DISTRIBUTION OF MINERALS AND THE LOCALISATION OF INDUSTRIES AND OF TOWNS The distribution of minerals over the surface of the earth is much less obvious phenomenon than that of plants and animals, but it has always been of great importance in determining the distribution of man and his settlements. Except in the most primitive communities man must have tools and implements; probably never since he became man has he been without weapons. The first sign of emergence from the rudest barbarism is the use of metals, instead of stone or bone, to construct these tools and weapons and the necessity for finding the metals best suited to his use at each stage of civilisation has always influenced the movements and settlements of man. The existence of useful metals in a particular area must always attract population to that spot, and it is obvious in the case of Australia, of California, and later of Alaska, how strong the attractive power of metals is, even when the other conditions are distinctly unfavourable. As metals have always had this attractive power, the study of their distribution must always be important to the geographer. We have seen that the first men whose remains have been preserved in Europe used only implements of stone, but that at a later state bronze was used, and corresponded to a marked rise in civilisation, as shown by the improved pottery, the nature of the ornaments used, and so on. Now bronze is not a metal but an alloy or mixture of two metals, copper and tin. This alloy is very hard, and possesses qualities which make it more valuable for weapons and tools than the relatively soft metal copper. But we can hardly suppose that the first metal-workers discovered, immediately after they had learnt how to smelt metals, that a mixture of metals was more useful than a pure one. In point of fact, it is clear that in some places, at least, the age of bronze was preceded by a period when developing man used pure copper for his implements. Our word copper is derived from the name of the island of Cyprus, which is particularly rich in copper ores. In this island they were smelted at a very early date, the process being aided by two facts, first, that copper ores are relatively easy to smelt, and, second, that the necessary fuel for the process was furnished by the forests which formerly covered the island, and which were largely destroyed by the early smiths.