THE DOGMA OF EVOLUTION 



govern the science of history, he next attempts to find 

 the specific causes for the diversities of civilization. 

 He assumes that, in primitive conditions, the physical 

 environment is the dominating force. The environ- 

 ment affects man by climate, food, soil, and those 

 general aspects of nature which excite the imagina- 

 tion. If the first three are favourable, they produce 

 wealth or the accumulation of property; wealth per- 

 mits leisure; leisure is responsible for taste and know- 

 ledge, without which there can be no progress towards 

 civilization. He, in accordance with this sequence, 

 finds that the first civilizations arose in hot countries 

 with superabundant food; in India because of rice, 

 in Egypt from dates, in Peru and Mexico from pota- 

 toes, bananas, and maize. Unfortunately, cheap food 

 induces laziness and low wages, and these in turn 

 make for despotism ; so that, in the end, this type of 

 civilization could not advance far. Europe owes its 

 more permanent and advanced civilization to the op- 

 posite causes. It had neither fertile soil nor a super- 

 abundant food, therefore wages were high and the 

 government tended toward democracy because of in- 

 dustry and competition. All seems logical and con- 

 vincing, but there remain certain difficulties; other 

 parts of the world had a warm climate and abundant 

 food, Australia, parts of Africa, of North and South 

 America and the Pacific Islands, and yet no primitive 

 civilization started in them. The same is true when 

 we consider regions similar to Europe, and there are 



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