INFLUENCE OF ALTITUDE ON CffARACTER. 15 



inspired a ray of light? Great as his invention is, however, it is probably but the 

 stepping-stone to one still greater which is to come, namely, the transmission of 

 hght itself by means of electricity. — London Journal of Science. 



INFLUENCE OF ALTITUDE ON CHARACTER. 



R. T. VAN HORN, IN KANSAS CITY JOURNAL. 



There is a theory held by many that altitude has a controlling influence on 

 the character and proclivities of the human race, and that the highest develop- 

 ment is to be found at the higher altitudes. However this may be, it is a fact that 

 all the saviors of the world, the great prophets and teachers, were natives of high 

 lands, and what is, perhaps, better still, of good climate and pure atmosphere. 



For example, astronomy was born on the Chaldean plains, where there was a 

 clear sky for most of the year, and where men slept on the roofs of houses, with 

 the stars in sight whenever their eyes opened. Could such a science have originated 

 amid the fogs of the Thames, or the swamps of the lacustrine regions, where 

 noxious insects and reptiles invoked the vigilance of waking hours ? 



Whether these are pertinent inquiries or not, they are suggested by 

 some curious facts disclosed by the census tables. One set of tables prepared by 

 Dr. Gannett, gives the population of the United States by drainage basins, and 

 the following table gives the number that live habitually at different elevations 

 above sea level, from the shore to loo feet and so on. It will be examined with 

 great interest : 



f Population. n 



Height above, feet 1870 1880 



o— 100 7,233,550 9,152,003 



100— 500 8,653,603 10,775,250 



500— 1,000 15,127,227 19,025,617 



1,000 — IJ500 5,620,101 7,903,811 



1,500— 2,000 ..■ 1,191,293 1,876,885 



2,000 — 3,oco 360,059 664,851 



3,000— 4,000 79,349 128,348 



4,000— 5,000 84,319 166,545 



5,000— 6,000 135,483 271,321 



6,000 — 7,000 58,466 94,980 



7,000— 8,000 6,304 15,053 



8,000 — 9,000 7,390 24,947 



9,000 — 10,000 , 705 26,846 



Above 10,000 522 26,400 



Here we have some remarkable facts : One-fifth of the American people live 

 less than 100 feet above the level of the sea. Another fifth at less than 500 feet, 

 and nearly one-third below 1,000 feet, while 97 per cent, of the whole population 

 live below 2,000 feet. Necessarily, the people living at these different altitudes 

 follow avocations based on the products of those elevations, modified by latitude. 

 We, here at the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas river, are about the great- 



