FOOD, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN. 591 



history of the North American aborigines, of whom but a handful re- 

 main to tell the story of their former greatness, or the extent of their 

 ancient civilization. 



FOOD, AND THE DEYELOPIVIENT OF MAN. 



By otto ULE. 



TEANSLATED FEOM THE GEEMAX, BY J. FITZGEEALD, A. M. 



THE progress of science does not consist merely in the discovery 

 of new facts and the enlargement of our knowledge, or even in the 

 ingenious conclusions thence drawn, and which, from their universality, 

 acquire the character of laws ; its mightiest work is the change it 

 brings about in our fundamental conceptions, and the consequent rev- 

 olution in science itself. As science advances, it gains new principles, 

 new arguments ; its problems and its aims multiply incessantly. 

 There is no branch of knowledge that has not experienced this, and 

 even historical investigation is no exception. Time was when the 

 earth used to be regarded as merely the temporary abode of man, or 

 even as the place where he spent a brief term of banishment. The 

 history of man used to consist of casual events, or of the free and 

 arbitrary doings of individuals. Great men, great heroes, great rulers, 

 great thinkers, determined the history of peoples and of states. 

 Trifling causes — the walling up of a window, or the spilling of a glass 

 of water — might occasion events that would convulse the world. By 

 the aid of natural science we have come to look on the earth as some- 

 thing more than the temporary abode, as the true home and school of 

 mankind. Man has become a child of Nature ; in Nature are all the 

 conditions of his life and development. Climate and soil, the confor- 

 mation of the land, and the distribution of water, determine the phys- 

 ical and the mental development of nations. It has long been seen 

 that peoples differ, that their history and their civilization are difier- 

 ent, accordingly as they live in valleys or on mountains, in islands or 

 in the interior of continents, in deserts and steppes or in forests, in 

 an open, hilly country, or in sequestered valleys. Historical research, 

 however, has but recently begun to concern itself with the natural 

 causes of the development of civilization, and many an important 

 aspect of this subject is still entirely overlooked. 



Of all the influences which determine the life of the individual, 

 and on w^hich his weal and woe depend, undoubtedly the nature of his 

 food is one of the weightiest. Every one has for himself experienced 

 how not only the strength of his muscles, but also the course of his 

 thought and his whole mental tone, is afiected by the nature of his 

 food. And shall not that hold good for nations which holds good for 

 individuals ? Shall the sum of mankind be less afiected in their physi- 



