8 EEACTIOlSr OF MAN OlST NATUEE. 



pliere and the seas, depend npon causes for tlie most part cosmi- 

 cal, and, of course, wholly beyond our control. The elevation, 

 configuration and composition of the great masses of terrestrial 

 surface, and the relative extent and distribution of land and water, 

 are determined by geological influences equally remote from our 

 jurisdiction. It would hence seem that the physical adaptation 

 of different portions of the earth to the use and enjoyment of 

 man is a matter so strictly belonging to mightier tlian human 

 powers, that we can only accept geographical nature as we find 

 her, and be content with such soils and such skies as she spon- 

 taneously offers. 



Heaction of Mam, on Nature. 



But it is certain that man has reacted upon organized and in- 

 organic nature, and thereby modified, if not determined, the ma- 

 terial structure of his earthly home. The measure of that reac- 

 tion manifestly constitutes a very important element in the ap- 

 preciation of the relations between mind and matter, as well as in 

 the discussion of many purely physical problems. But though 

 the subject has been incidentally touched upon by many geogra- 

 phers, and treated with much fulness of detail in regard to certain 

 limited fields of human effort and to certain specific effects of hu- 

 man action, it has not, as a whole, so far as I know, been made 

 matter of special observation, or of historical research, by any 

 scientific inquirer. Indeed, until the influence of geograpliical 

 conditions upon human life was recognized as a distinct branch of 

 philosophical investigation, there was no motive for the pursuit of 

 such speculations; and it was desirable to inquire how far we 

 have, or can, become the architects of our own abiding place, only 

 when it was known how the mode of our physical, moral and in- 

 tellectual being is affected by the character of the home which 

 Providence has appointed, and we have fashioned, for our ma- 

 terial habitation.* 



It is still too early to attempt scientific method in discussing this 

 problem, nor is our present store of the necessary facts by any 



* Gods Almagt wenkte van den troon, 

 En schiep elk volk een land ter woon : 

 Hier vestte Zij een grondgebied, 

 Dat Zij ons zclven scheppen liet. 



