IN THE 



TBMPEEATE EEGIONS. 



CHAPTER T. 



GENERAL SURVEY. 



Y the Temperate Regions we mean all those 

 portions of the globe which are included in 

 the northern hemisphere between the Arctic 

 Circle and the Tropic of Cancer ; in the south- 

 ern, between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic 

 Circle. These are characterized by a climate which, 

 though subject to considerable variations, is, on the whole, 

 free from the excessive cold of the Frigid and the exces- 

 sive heat of the Torrid Zones. The soil is more uniformly 

 fertile, but the vegetation less exuberant, than in the 

 Tropics. In the Temperate Regions man seems to attain 

 his highest development, and the world's civilization has 

 found in them its cradle and the sphere of its greatest 

 activity. The nations and races which stand foremost in 

 the world's history all live "and rule within the Temperate 



