332 PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION. [PAET II. 



tive in development, belong to the temperate zone, though a 

 certain grandeur in material civilization cannot be denied to 

 some peoples of hot countries. These phenomena are probably 

 connected with another influence of climate upon the mental 

 peculiarity of man, namely, its influence upon the imagination. 

 A hot climate has, in every respect, a relaxing influence ; with 

 the reluctance to bodily effort, there is a corresponding in- 

 ertness of thought and deficient energy of the will. But 

 this laxity is associated with a greater intensity and restlessness 

 of movements, a greater amount of physical and psychical irri- 

 tation whenever the state of rest is abandoned. The incredible 

 efforts and lasting power which the Negro exhibits in the dance, 

 the explosions of the passions, the licentious excesses, prove 

 the remarkable ability of the southern character to move within 

 much greater extremes than the inhabitants of temperate 

 climates. It is not that the native of the tropics is more easily 

 aroused ; only, when aroused, the energy is far more intense : we 

 need only refer to the running " Amock" among the Malays. We 

 find among the natives of a hot climate a comparatively low 

 psychical culture, which has never properly penetrated the 

 mass, a cultivation the remarkable material performances of 

 which could only be effected by the most unlimited despotism. 

 The grotesque ornamentation of their images, the grandeur of 

 their buildings, the fantastic representations of their deities, 

 all which transcends the imagination of the northern nations, 

 give abundant testimony of the eccentric " glowing" fancy of 

 the inhabitant of the tropics, as well as that displayed in all 

 Oriental tales. The peoples of the south have a particular pre- 

 dilection for glitter and splendour, and for riotous pleasures, 

 whilst their sense for the really beautiful, for calm contempla- 

 tion of the beauties of nature, is very defective ; even the South 

 European, like the Mexican, is enthusiastically fond of pyro- 

 technic displays. The Brazilians also celebrate their festivals 

 with the greatest possible noise ; artillery discharges and fire- 

 works are indispensable adjuncts. 1 The Oriental, observes 

 Hitter, 2 and especially the Arab, is deficient in the perception 



1 W. H. Edwards, " Voyage up the river Amazon," chap, xix, 1847. 



2 " Erdkunde," viii, p. 42. 



