January 10, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



45 



ing and detrimental to the white man. This 

 opinion is substantiated by a considerable 

 variety of evidence. Under tropical or sub- 

 tropic conditions the white man, according to 

 this theory, can not do the same amount of 

 sustained physical or intellectual work that 

 he accomplishes in a cold climate. 



The present paper will not attempt to con- 

 trovert in full this theory of tropical "ener- 

 vation," but merely aims to present conditions 

 in the Hawaiian Islands as a specific instance 

 to the contrary. The writer has resided in 

 Hawaii for eleven years; his three children 

 have been born there; and he has been much 

 interested in the physiological relations of 

 climate. 



Hawaii, in the North Pacific Ocean, is sub- 

 tropical. It is free from the intense humidity 

 and heat of equatorial regions, and is cooled 

 by trade winds that blow steadily from the 

 northeast during most of the year. On the 

 lowlands, where the entire population (250,- 

 000) resides, the annual thermal range is 

 between 57° and 88° F., averaging 73° F. 

 Honolulu, the only city in the islands (70,000 

 population), has an annual rainfall of about 

 42 inches, and a thermal range from 65° F. to 

 82° F. ; mean temperature, 73° F. 



The significant fact, which the writer wishes 

 to strongly emphasize, is that the " white " 

 population lives "American style," and differ- 

 ing in no essential from the mode of living 

 customary in any northern city on the main- 

 land. Habitation, clothing and food are es- 

 sentially the same as one would find in the 

 same class of society in Duluth, Winnipeg, 

 Buffalo. Halifax, New York or Boston. The 

 houses, of course, are not heated, and are some- 

 what more open and aily than are cold-climate 

 houses. Otherwise they look like the houses 

 in any American city. Summer-weight cloth- 

 ing, eastern style, is worn the year round. 

 Americans wear exactly the same styles as in 

 the eastern states. Most of the food is im- 

 ported from the mainland. 



The hours of labor for business men, pro- 

 fessional men and laborers are just as long 

 as in northern regions. The holidays and va- 



cation jyeriods are no more numerous. The 

 lunch period is one hour, at noon, and there 

 is no siesta. Agricultural laborers (mostly 

 Orientals; some Caucasians, ex-Spanish and 

 Portuguese) work in the fields the year round, 

 with no winter rest period. 



The American banker, doctor, lawyer, mer- 

 chant works just as long and as diligently in 

 Hawaii as he would or does in any northern 

 city. A white laboring class does not exist in 

 Hawaii. This is due, however, not to climatic 

 conditions, but to the economic competition of 

 cheap Oriental labor. In early days, before 

 Hawaii was flooded with low-wage yellow labor, 

 white men worked in the fields successfully, 

 and with no evidence of physical deterioration. 



White pupils in the public and private 

 schools progress through the elementary, sec- 

 ondary and collegiate grades at the same rate 

 as in cold climates ; have essentially the same 

 curriculum ; do the same amount of study ; and 

 carry on the same kinds of recreation and 

 athletics. Young men and women, born and 

 educated in Hawaii, who have gone to the 

 mainland schools (Wellesley, Vassar, Cornell, 

 Stanford, Yale, Harvard, etc.), not only take 

 equal rank with the other students there, but 

 in many notable instances have shown un- 

 usual scholarship, leadership and athletic 

 ability. White children growing up in Hawaii 

 have much more outdoor life throughout the 

 year than do the majority of cold-climate chil- 

 dren. There are no Hawaiian diseases of in- 

 fancy or childhood differing from those of 

 other countries. The salubrious climate is ex- 

 tremely conducive to healthy infancy and 

 childhood. 



It must be acknowledged that the change 

 from a northern to a subtropical climate does 

 not always agree with the white woman. 

 Some suffer from poor health, and more or less 

 profound functional derangement. In many 

 cases lactation is inadequate, or abnormal in 

 other ways. A large percentage of white 

 babies in Hawaii are bottle-fed. However, the 

 problem is an open one, as to how much of 

 the ill health of some white women in Hawaii 

 is directly due to climatic maladaption, and 



