IN! ENVIRONMENT 



iii istemv is reflected in the sparse population. I: 

 deed, the fact of its .- has been responsible for 



certain characters in the culture of the Eskimo which 

 are revolting to us and see-in quit. inconceival.le, largely 

 because tin- mitigated rigors of our have 



accustomed us to milder usages. ample, while it 



is customary with us to respect and look -In- aged 



meinlHTH of <*ur family. among tin- Kskimo it in re<j 



to kill their pan -nN after they have become 

 too old to help i the c*omnninity. It i> 



consi i hreach of filial duty not to kill the aged 



The custom i> founded upon the ethical law 

 of the K-kimo am! ip<n the whole mass of tradi- 



tional lore and custom. 10 When members of the com- 

 munity cannot work ami ronti ilut- to tin* food supply 

 > be made away with because there are young 

 in. .ut 1 !!- t<> tVed and tlnn> is otherwise not sufficient food 



;ill. 



very to climatic environment 



Although man is more adaptable to climatic changes 

 than many animaU. environment in it- .-lunatic influences 

 does act nevertheless as a selective agency. For ex- 

 amp 1 - imo M'-k'-n- and dies in the temperate and 

 semi-torrid /.one. Th. -an cannot end long 

 and the severe cold of the An tic ( ir.1,. The 

 aps, would die out in northern United States 

 were lie I from the South. And the"Scan- 

 dinaviai. iot seem to prosper in the dry, sunny por- 

 tions of the I'nited Stat.s, where he is subject to dis- 

 eases of the skin and nerves which appear seriously to 

 deplete his numbers in a few generations. But in the 



"Boas, P. "The Mind of Primitive Man," Jo*r. Amcr. /*o/l torr. v. 14, 



