62 From Savagery to Civilization 



When we look at individual wars we find that 

 the tribe or nation whose habitat is further to 

 the north normally defeats the tribe or nation 

 whose home is further to the south. Looking 

 closer, we find that the victor, when other things 

 are equal, is the people who live in the colder 

 climate, and the defeated is the people who live 

 in the warmer climate. 



From a consideration of the various facts in- 

 volved, we may say that a cool or semi-cold 

 climate promotes the development of intelligence 

 and bodily vigor in those peoples who live in 

 such climates. Amateurs coming upon this fact 

 would normally give this out as the latest de- 

 termination of science, whereas it is not science 

 at all. It is only an item with which science may 

 deal. The matter comes into the domain of 

 science only when we can explain that fact in 

 the terms of some other facts of a known kind. 

 Human advancement has moved northward 

 step by step and at the present time the most 

 vigorous and intelligent people are those who 

 live in comparatively cold climates, and whose 

 ancestors lived in the same kind of climate for 

 many generations. Why? 



