PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENT 221 



feelings appears to have exerted upon the history 

 of southern races. 



A mountainous environment is almost every- 

 where associated with shortness and sturdiness 

 of growth, and with an abnormally large develop- 

 ment of the muscles of the calf. This is of course 

 the result of hill climbing : but it has become a 

 hereditary trait of hill people. Some localities 

 are distinguished by the muscular strength of 

 their inhabitants : the fellahin of Egypt are 

 amazingly strong for an Oriental people. We are 

 tempted to assume some connection between 

 vigour and diet. Flesh-eating peoples are gene- 

 rally supposed to be more forceful than vege- 

 tarians, and in India those who subsist upon wheat 

 and millet are certainly hardier than the rice-eating 

 peoples of the eastern deltas. But the qualities 

 that are associated with a particular diet may 

 in reality be caused by the circumstances of soil 

 and climate which determine the character of the 

 food supply. In India flesh-eating Mohammedans 

 are scattered amongst a population of vegetarian 

 Hindus : speaking generally they are not more 

 vigorous than the Hindus, although they un- 

 doubtedly enjoy a higher birth-rate. And Japan 

 affords a very strong argument for vegetarian 

 enthusiasts. The diet of its people is rice : but 

 no one can deny their physical and mental force- 

 fulness. 







Turning now more particularly to peculiarities 

 of character, we observe that a climate of moist 

 heat is almost invariably and very naturally 

 reflected in the physical inertness of the people 

 that are subjected to it. There is a marked con- 

 trast in India between the bodily inactivity of the 

 Bengalis and the vigour of the Panjabis or Mara- 

 thas who inhabit a region of lighter rainfall ; 



