134 SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



Asia, Japan, and the greater part of China, that have 

 achieved things in art, literature and science during the 

 Last one thousand years.^'' Climate affects the energ>^ 

 and regularity with which labor is conducted. Extreme 

 heat such as exists in the torrid and semi-torrid regions 

 mentioned, tends to enervate the worker, whether he be 

 manual laborer or brain worker. Prolonged and per- 

 sistent labor is impossible. The result is unstable and 

 irresponsible methods of life. Regular habits are not 

 easy to cultivate when heat makes effort desultory.^*' 



Climatic conditions in the far north are such as to in- 

 terfere with the reg-ularity of labor. The intense cold 

 benumbs the limbs and interferes with freedom of move- 

 ment." It depresses the normal operation of the vital 

 processes and dulls ambition. "Thus we find that no 

 people living in a very northern latitude have ever pos- 

 sessed that steady and unflinching industry for which the 

 inhabitants of temperate regions are remarkable. The 

 reason for this becomes clear when we remember that in 

 the more northern countries the severity of the weather 

 and, at some seasons, the deficiency of light render it 

 impossible for people to continue their usual out-of-door 

 eni])loyments." '^ In cold climates the bodily warmth 

 necessary to sustain vital processes in a normal state is 

 maintained by the consumption of large quantities of 

 oily food, such as whale oil, and blubber. But this 

 highly carbonized food, although very essential, is quite 

 scarce. It can be obtained only from the fat and oils of 

 powerful and ferocious animals. This lack of sufficient 

 food affects the numbers of the people. Deficiency of 



i-'-Trflaii(l, A.— The Far Eastern Tropics, pp. 2-4. 



iG Buckle. H. 'I'. — History of Civilisation in Enyland, 1857-1801, ch. ii. 



17 See figure 51. 



18 J hid. 



