542 W. D. SMITH — GEOLOGIC INFLUENCES IN THE PHILIPPINES 



merate all the work that has been done along this line. The reader 

 should, if he already has not done so, read the very suggestive work by 

 the late Colonel Woodruff, United States Army : "The Effect of Tropical 

 Sunlight on White Men." 



It is the writer's opinion that many of the bad effects attributed to 

 climate and sunlight in the tropics have been exaggerated and have ex- 

 isted largely in the minds of those who have paid more attention to 

 theories than to the actual facts, knowing from nine years' personal ex- 

 perience that no unusual inconvenience was suffered. It is probable that 

 by taking regular exercise one could live throughout the regular working 

 period in the Philippines without any appreciable loss of efficiency. 



The Malays never have indulged' in athletics to any extent commen- 

 surate with our own addiction to sports, but since the now extensive 

 program of athletics for the Filipinos has been promoted by the Govern- 

 ment a marked improvement in the physical and mental stamina of the 

 native can be noted, while the changes in diet introduced by the Ameri- 

 cans also has had its effect. 



One delusion of the white man has been forever dispelled in the Philip- 

 pines, namely, that whisky is essential to one's physical well-being in 

 the tropics. If the Englishman seems to have thrived on alcohol in the 

 tropics, it need only be asked how much better he would have thriven, 

 how much greater things would he have done, without it. 



Effect of modern Improvements 



The railroad, the macadam road, and the telegraph are. the powerful 

 factors at work now in breaking up the age-long isolation of the tribes of 

 the Philippines. In time tribal differences will almost disappear, and 

 until they do we can not hope for any political unity of these peoples 

 which will be lasting. 



When we look carefully and considerately into the environment of the 

 Filipinos, we find much to explain their backwardness and lack of con- 

 certed action. "People who live in regions of ascending air currents, 

 low barometer, high temperature, and excessive rainfall lack initiative 

 and energ}^" WTien we take into account the additional handicaps of 

 rugged mountain barriers, tempestuous seas, and plagues of all sorts to 

 contend with, we must give the people of the Philippines due credit for 

 surviving at all. 



To the future historian of these peoples the writer ventures to give 

 this bit of advice: Study the topography and geology of the archipelago 

 and that of the Far East, then no one needs be surprised at the rational 

 manner in which events hang together and are mutually explanatory. 



