210 THE CLIMATIC FACTOR AS ILLUSTRATED IN ARID AMERICA. 



ways in which cUmatic variations may produce their effects. During my visit to Yucatan 

 I again and again inquired of all sorts of people as to the kind of weather when the modern 

 Yucatecos work most vigorously. The universal answer was on "fresh" days, which 

 means the coolest days that Yucatan ever enjoys. When I put this question to Mr. E. H. 

 Thompson he answered it as did every one else, and then with characteristic energy went 

 out early the next morning to interview some of the best-informed men among the Indians. 

 They, too, gave the usual answer, and then, thinking it over a little more, added, "Yes, 

 the Mayas work hardest when there is a fresh spell; the morning after a 'norther' is the 

 time; then the air is cool and clear, and the women bake the tortillas much more quickly 

 than usual, so that we get away to work early." Nothing for to-day, as we have said, is 

 ever prepared yesterday in Yucatan, and so in the morning the men always have to wait 

 until the women have ground some corn, mixed the batter, and cooked some thin tortillas 

 on a flat sheet of iron. Therefore the husbands, not being able to depart until the day's 

 supply of bread is ready, take especial note of the speed with which it is prepared. Perhaps 

 this may seem a trivial thing to mention in connection with a great problem like that of 

 the cause of the rise and fall of nations, but it illustrates the fact that among the physical 

 stimuli which may control human efficiency none is more potent than climate. Perchance, 

 if Yucatan had a norther every three days instead of only at rare intervals, the energy of 

 the population might be greatly increased. If the northers were so cold that the temper- 

 ature fell to freezing, as it does at Canton in China, scarcely farther from the equator than 

 is Yucatan, the present Yucatecos might in time become as efficient as the Cantonese. 

 With our present scanty knowledge of the exact effects of varying conditions of temperature, 

 pressure, humidity, and the hke upon man's vital processes, it would be rash to say how 

 far the difference between the Yucatan of the past and that of the present may be due in 

 part to climatic causes. This much, however, can be safely said: if the shifting of zones 

 has taken place in any such way as we have inferred, the peculiar contrast between the 

 wonderfully progressive people who once dwelt in Yucatan and the indolent present 

 inhabitants is much less inexplicable than is now the case. 



