ami;kic.\n i"()Ki:sti:rs in tiii". tkoimcs 161 



to be able to adjust tlieinselves to the new cnvironnient. While the 

 fear of the tropics is more or less inbred in inhabitants of temperate 

 refi^ions. it is larj^ely psycological rather than actual, brought on by 

 exaggerated statements concerning climatic, hygienic, and moral con- 

 ditions of the tropics. These conditions are bad enough without mak- 

 ing (hem worse than llicy actually are. They are sufficiently different 

 from ours to make it impossible for a certain class of men to make a 

 success of their work, whereas tlie\- would be counted as successful 

 men in similar positions in temperate regions. I<Mscher.'- the Director 

 of Forestry in the Philippine Islands, in a recent article calls attention 

 to the type of man that makes a success in the tropics. I can do no 

 better than (|uote certain passages from this article: 



"As stated above, success depends on the man and this is particularly 

 true in the tropics. Many men who make a success in the temj)erate 

 zone are failures in the tropics. Climate, health, worries, homesick- 

 ness, disgust at surrountling conditions and other factors tend toward 

 discouragement, but love and enthusiasm for tropical work can over- 

 come many of these factors. Most white men with ordinary precau- 

 tions can live in the tropics. The precautions are few, but must be 

 observed rigorously — care in drinking water, protection against 

 mosquitoes, and avoidance of physical excesses of all kinds. 



"Two things that mitigate both the discomforts and dangers of the 

 tropics are. first, that generally the nights are always cool and. second, 

 medicinal knowledge has advanced greatly and the dreaded intestinal 

 diseases, such as amoebic and bacillary dysentery, are easily cured if 

 treatment is begun in time. 



"That heat is at first enervating, and discourages many, there is no 

 doubt. The essence of the matter, however, lies in most cases in the 

 wt)r(l 'discourage.' A man who does not let the heat and sweat dis- 

 courage him in the first weeks or months, soon gets used to it and 

 takes it all as a part of the^clay's work. There are hundreds of white 

 men whose mentality is as keen and moral stamina as staunch as ever, 

 despite years of residence in the tropics, but these are, as a rule, men 

 who have not permitted the climate to run them down physically. 

 Mois Sana in cor pore so no is as true here as in anv other part of 

 the world. . . . 



"One's attitude toward things in general and the work with natives 

 of the tropics may mean success or failure. An impersonal attitude 

 or a cold exterior, particularly in the tropics, gives the impression of 

 lack of symjiathy and retards the work. Being 'nniy sinipatico' with 

 the people, their haliits. manners and customs, with firmness and a 



' Fi.scher. A. F. The Fundamentals of Success in the Tropics. Yale Forest 

 School News, Vol. III. No. 3, July, 1920, pp. 35-36. 



