S34 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. 



Another subject of inquiry is, why the 

 Laplanders are so heakhy ; for which the 

 following reasons may be assigned. 



1. The extreme purity of the air, which 

 seemed to give me new life as I inhaled it. 



2. The use of food thoroughly dressed. 



3. Eating their food cold ; for they 

 always let their boiled meat cool before 

 they taste it, and do not seize it with 

 avidity as soon as it comes out of the pot.* 



4. The purity of the water. 



5. Tranquillity of mind. They have no 

 contentions, neither are they over and 

 above careful about their affairs, nor ad- 

 dicted to covetousness. Their liv^es are 

 protracted to extreme old age. 



6. Their never overloading the stomach, 

 while the rustic of other countries eats till 

 he is ready to burst. 



7. Deficiency of spirituous liquors. Of 

 these they rarely taste, and only in such 



* Linnaeus's expression is, " they do not spring 

 upon it with boots and spurs." 



