702 INFLUENCE OF CLIMATE ON THE 



of the great desert of Sahara, which extends from 

 lat. 15 to 30 N. and from the Atlantic ocean to 

 Egypt, over an area of 300,000, square miles, 

 with no mountains, and scarcely any rain, to mi- 

 tigate the influence of the blazing sun. 



The consequence is, that in Soudan, Bennin, 

 Dahomy, Coomassie, Ashantee, and other por- 

 tions of tropical Africa, the temperature rises to 

 108 and sometimes to 1 13 in the shade, during 

 the heat of the day, according to Denham, Clap- 

 perton, and other travellers. It also rises to 112 

 in the hottest parts of New Holland, as we are in- 

 formed by Mr. Lang owing to the absence of 

 mountains, the scarcity of rain, and the prevalence 

 of sandy deserts. Corresponding with this state 

 of things, the native population of New Holland 

 does not exceed 500,000 savage negroes, on a 

 territory of 3,000,000, square miles, which is 

 nearly equal to that of all Europe. 



Thus it is, that no great, wealthy, populous, 

 and highly civilized nation, has ever existed in 

 either excessively hot or cold climates. If man 

 be dwarfed in stature, and all his higher faculties 

 blunted, by the torpifying agency of intense and 

 long continued frost he is equally degraded by 

 the perpetual influence of an elevated temperature, 

 which blackens his skin, renders his hair coarse, 

 harsh, and curly, while it impairs the vigour and 

 beauty of his whole organization. For example, 

 the head of the negro is not only smaller in every 



