A PHILOSOPHY OF GEOGRAPHY 595 



embroidery, has been probably more affected by geographic environment 

 than any other forms. Commerce had a distinct influence here. The 

 cnisades brought the new world into contact with the east, and European 

 manuscripts became beautifully illumined after oriental style. Climate, 

 here, too, exerts no little influence. In dry, clear countries the people 

 can see great distances, everything stands out in bold relief, and paint- 

 ings are apt to be very bright in color, quite different from the work in 

 moist, foggy lands. The Japanese, Chinese and Hindoos possess a 

 natural artistic skill probably greatly determined by their geographical 

 wealth — gold, metal, precious stones and ivory, the silk-worm, and the 

 many vegetable paints and dyes that could be made from the soils. The 

 making of carpets and tapestries goes hand in hand with such climatic 

 conditions as will produce wool and silk. The pearl carvings are most 

 beautiful among people living near the warm waters of the Pacific and 

 Indian oceans. There is a great predominence of yellow and red in 

 Indian designs — because iron compounds are plentiful in the earth. 

 The refinement of Greek detail would never have been possible without 

 her fine marble quarries. Indeed, climate and the prevailing materials 

 in any country determine much the character of tlie finished building. 

 The towers, minarets, fine tracerv and carving of the cathedrals and 

 churches of Europe owe their existence to a great extent to the use of 

 soft limestone and caenstone. There are flat roofs in dry countries, 

 pitched roofs where there is little rain, and steep ones in snowy regions. 

 In dealing with literature in this connection, people may shake their 

 heads. If one attempts to trace the influence of sea, mountain, desert, 

 river, seasons, climate, they might say " Of course. That is nature. 

 Of course our literature reflects those things." But, if literature 

 were permeated with expositions of and similes concerning the mechanics 

 of solids and fluids, would it not be interesting at least to trace the 

 relation between physics and literature? The first literary themes of 

 peoples are always songs of the sea, the river, the night, the mountain. 

 In the songs of Indian, American and African savages there is an end- 

 less maze of themes to the winds and erosive forces of nature. Many of 

 our literary monuments are merely recitals of geographical exploration 

 and discovery — from Ulysses to Gulliver. The seasons have been sung 

 by Shelley and more others than there is space to name. All stories of 

 Wanderlust are associated with the spring time. Literature of specific 

 areas is definitely stamped. Italy, because of her geographic condition, 

 has been a distinct influence not only upon her own writers, but upon all 

 writers who have journey there — Bryon, Goethe, Shelley, Browning, 

 Keats, Milton. The influence of the north — how absolutely can we trace 

 it! Beowulf is a mirror, almost, of the grimness of the north. Fiona 

 Macleod, Ibsen, are essentially of the north. Pick up Brand. Where 

 else could it have been produced? The desert, the river, the sea, the 

 mountain, have been inspirations of many literary efforts. 



