EATING HAW MEAT. 225 



a natural inducement for its indulgence, which, I 

 think, is an apt illustration of the manner, in which 

 man is led instinctively, to the employment of such 

 means within his reach, to enable him fully to 

 enjoy life, under whatever circumstances of situation 

 he may be placed. 



The difference of food between the inhabitants 

 of the Arctic region and those of low intertropical 

 countries is so great, that it has not failed to strike 

 physiologists, who have, from the comparison, been 

 led to the knowledge of an important truth in the 

 natural economy of man. It has been observed that 

 human life is supported in these opposite extremes of 

 situation by different kinds of food, and that whilst 

 in the north, blubber and enormous quantities of raw 

 meat are devoured by the natives, that in the 

 torrid zone, vegetables constitute the principal 

 diet. The reason is, that during the process of 

 digestion a considerable amount of natural heat is 

 engendered in the system, and this is found to be 

 determined in quantity by the nature of the food. 

 An entirely fleshy diet occasions the development of 

 its maximum, and contributes materially to the com- 

 fort of man in cold situations, whilst, on the contrary, 

 vegetables are scarcely able to excite sufficient heat 

 necessary to convert them into nutriment; and, in 

 fact, beneficent nature has provided for such a want, 

 by supplying in hot climates a sort of artificial 

 warmth, in the stimulating aromatics which are the 

 characteristic productions of the torrid zone. 



VOL. II. Q 



