1887] An Isolated Community in the Bahama Islands. 883 
physical condition in which the nervous system does not play a 
large part can be at all complete; and the higher in the scale 
_ the race of men concerned, the more this must be taken into 
account, The bracing influence of a climate with moderate vari- 
_ ations of temperature has its explanation largely through the 
_ nervous system. The fact that a cold bath raises the tempera- 
ture cannot be wholly explained without bringing the nervous 
heat-producing mechanism into the reckoning. 
a Now, that the nervous system of the white man must be almost 
. constantly depressed in this community may be made evident. 
a When it is borne in mind that the stimuli from the arrival of 
a ships act only during the season of fruit-ripening, and that there 
_ are “hurricane months,” during which no ships dare venture 
_ across the reef, it will be plain that for the greater part of the year 
- this little community must be in a state of mental stagnation. 
To the intelligent visitor, the objects here, totally unlike those 
q he is accustomed to in his own land, have an intense interest. 
a But all these are, to the man or the woman who has been look- 
E ; ing on them for a lifetime, a very old story; water and sand and | 
_ White rocks, and low, thick vegetation, make a wretchedly nar- 
_ Tow environment after all, for a lifetime. What any brain be- 
at comes depends upon its capacity to develop; which is equivalent 
_ to saying that the cortical brain-cells concerned in the highest 
‘ mental processes depend for their final best development very 
4 largely on the variety and number of (afferent) nervous impulses 
4 teaching them ; that is to say, again, upon the richness of the in- 
a ee experiences; so that it seems to me absolutely impos- 
i that the highest development could be attained in such a 
narrow life-prison as this reall y is to the constant resident. 
. pagal on the white than on the black man JRE 
a e former is superior to that of the latter; and on- 
ey, the very difference here to be seen shows plainly that 
eas a pronounced inequality in favor of the white man’s 
phi p 
‘a. ee The latter requires, for his best development, 2 
a, ‘An xperience than the Black. i : i : 
ts ‘ue very pronounced feature in the character of the people nee 
“cit disinclination to steady, honest work; they are ready a 
wevtlete; they are prepared for wrecks; in fact, one pa e a 
for the circumstances under which they live are, at least, B - 
` Worse in themselves, but rather better, in the case of the- 
