THE EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHIC ENVIRONMENT 1G5 



in his service, and thus from the environment came tlie domesti- 

 cation of animals in the Arctic regions. The denizen of tlie far 

 nortli cannot cultivate the ground, for the frozen earth refuses to 

 yield any return for liis labor. All the energies of the Arctic 

 man are expended in contending with the elements and striving 

 to secure from sea, snow, and ice the oil, skins, food, and hal)ita- 

 tion necessary for the support of life. His body is enervated 

 by the intense cold, and his mental, physical, and moral growth 

 is dwarfed and stunted. 



Thus we see that the geographical environments of inten.se 

 heat and intense cold develop different faculties, l)Ut in neither 

 does man progress toward civilization. 



Let us turn to a temperate climate, to the vast stejipes and 

 plateaus of Asia, which extend from southeastern Russia, ])ast 

 the Caspian and Ural seas, northeastward and eastward through 

 upj)er Turkestan and Siberia to Mongolia; from the Black sea 

 to Bering sea and the Pacific ocean — the greater i)art, indeed, of 

 Asia. Here we have a different geographic environment — a 

 temperate but arid climate, vast stepi)es, where, on account of 

 the drought, agriculture has alwaj^s been imiiossible. Over these 

 steppes immense flocks and herds of wild goats, camels, wild 

 horses, and buffalo roam now as thousands of years ago. Here, 

 in ages past, man, following where they led, gradually gathered 

 them into herds and tamed and domesticated them. The herds 

 must be cared for, be kept together, and guarded ; goats and cows 

 must be daily milked ; must be pastured in summer, and the wild 

 grass gathered for their winter use. Man learned to breed cattle, 

 to increase his flocks and herds, for on them he depended for 

 food, for clothing, for covering for his tents, and for all the other 

 necessaries of life. His environment forced him into habits of 

 foresight, of thrift, of thoughtfulness ; and thus man took the first 

 step in civilization. He ceased to be a savage and became a 

 nomad; he acquired property, and for thousands of years lived, 

 as now, the shepherd's life. Flocks and herds belonged to the 

 family or tribe, and the land where they grazed was regarded as 

 the property of the tribe, from which the flocks and shepherds 

 of other tribes were driven away. 



Gradually the family relation was established. The father or 

 his eldest or strongest son ))ecamo the jKitriarch, and the families 

 of a common ancestor were united into a tril»e with the patriarch 

 as its chief. Gradually the idea of social life and patriarciial 

 government was develojied, but there was neither city nor state, 



