Mor] 



AND SYMBOLS. 



231 



the human mind. For example : The police of Buenos Ayres 

 are well acquainted with the fact that quarrelling and bloodshed 

 are much more frequent when the wind blows from the north. 

 Sir Woodbine Parish informs us, in his narrative of a visit to 

 that place, that a sort of moral derangement prevails while that 

 wind continues. This wind produces headache and disorder of 

 faculty to a great extent, and, of course, leads to increase of 

 crime with all classes of persons who are accustomed readily to 

 yield to their bodily impulses. No doubt the cause as regards 

 Buenos Ayres arises from some malaria engendered in the 

 marshes over which the wind passes. That the cause is chemi- 

 cal is proved by its effects on meat, which soon becomes putrid 

 when exposed to it. The milk also is quickly spoiled, and the 

 bread baked during its continuance is always bad. u. 



The Relation of Food to Morality. 



The eating by man of bad food, or of good food which is 

 badly assimilated, will account for much of the misery and 

 many of the crimes of the world. Some of the barbarous 

 theology of mankind may be traced to indigestion. The want 

 of food has often supplied the motive for wars and riots. That 

 fasting, even when under the supposed authority of religion, 

 kindles the murderous passions in those who are not habituated 

 to self-control and the devotedness of holy motives, is largely 

 exemplified by the information of those who have travelled in 

 superstitious countries. Thus the author of Eothen, who is evi- 

 dently well informed, states that the fasts of the Greek Church 

 produce an ill effect upon the character of the people, for they 

 are carried to such an extent as to bring on febrile irritation 

 with depression of spirits, and a fierce desire for the perpetration 

 of dark crimes. Hence the number of murders is greater during 

 Lent than at any other time of the year. u. 



Moral Relapse. 



The pansy only develops its beauty under cultivation, and 

 when neglected soon relapses into its native condition. There 

 are men who keep conspicuously moral so long as they are con- 



