INFLUENCES OF ENVIRONMENT 137 



subsistence is reflected in the sparse population. In- 

 deed, the fact of its scarcity has been responsible for 

 certain characters in the culture of the Eskimo which 

 are revolting to us and seem quite inconceivable, largely 

 because the mitigated rigors of our environment have 

 accustomed us to milder usages. For example, while it 

 is customary with us to respect and look after the aged 

 members of our family, among the Eskimo it is required 

 of children to kill their parents after they have become 

 too old to help the family or serve the community. It is 

 considered a breach of filial duty not to kill the aged 

 parent. The custom is founded upon the ethical law 

 of the Eskimo and rests upon the whole mass of tradi- 

 tional lore and custom. 19 When members of the com- 

 munity cannot work and contribute to the food supply 

 they have to be made away with because there are young 

 mouths to feed and there is otherwise not sufficient food 

 for all. 



Races are very sensitive to climatic environment. 

 Although man is more adaptable to climatic changes 

 than many animals, environment in its climatic influences 

 does act nevertheless as a selective agency. For ex- 

 ample, the Eskimo sickens and dies in the temperate and 

 semi-torrid zone. The European cannot endure the long- 

 winters and the severe cold of the Arctic Circle. The 

 negro perhaps would die out in northern United States 

 were he not replenished from the South. And the Scan- 

 dinavian does not seem to prosper in the dry, sunny por- 

 tions of the United States 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 



i Boas, F. "The Mind of Primitive Man," Jour. Amer. Folk-Lore, v. 14, 

 p. 10. 



