The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1868-01-18

Il moisture, ars found species Of lizard,
ths iguanas. longer and hsavisr than ) good
sissd man, biailisks, and many othsr spe-
eies which multiply with amazing rzPidity in
The Varm, sluggish waters.
The forests harbor In great numbers, i'm
~snss ssrpents Of every ibrn and figure
monstrous boss, which are terror even to
the natives themselves. But amid ali these
the superior animal development seems to
BE- arrested and incomplete The prevailing
types are only the inferior ones.
Among The birds are many possessing
the most wonderful, beautiful and brilliant
plumage, yet the bnglsggsd, siilt piovsss,
herFons, aamingos, &C., are predomi-
nant. szssalsstsss ssas $50
In the nsamifsra the order Of sdentata, or
those having no front teeth, is that which
rot only does now, but In all geological
epoch's, has been the dominant class. But
Of the still higher orders we find but poor rep
personalities, less numerous, and inferior in
size in fact, far inferior to the correspond
ing animals 10 the old world instead Of the
huge elephant, rhinoeeros, or hippotamus Of
Africa, we find the great hornless tapir or
peccari; instead Of the valuable camel and
dromedary, the lama Of not half the size
instead Of the king of beasts, the ferocious
tiger and leopard; the cougar and jaguars
of Brazil, which arescarcely more than over
grown cats the monkeys too, are mostly
those Of the long tailed kinds, and are reck-
oned the least perfect Of their tribe. All
these are not only less numerous, less in
size, but they have not the strength or tht
indomitable courage and ferocity Of similar
species Of the old world.
In all Of tropical America we shall find the
whole Of the higher types Of animal life ex
istirg IN an inferior condition, subjected As
it were the vegetable world, the watery ele
ment. And everywhere whe- the vegetabl,
life is most profuse, animal sttains bu
the second degree, But passing into North
America, we find that it in consequence o
its broader, dryer, and more confinenta
character, possesses a few superior types
which compare somewhat more favoTably
with those Of the Eastern continent. TIL
bison, elk, and bear almost equal their neigh
bors Of the occiient, and evidences Of tn
vigorous northern constitution which pre-
dominates in the temperate climates. Nov
let us look at the effect of these causes upol
man, regarding him 10 this only as supe
rior animal but the effects Of climate ar
not confined alone to his physical nature
but his mental capacities as well, and now
speak only Of the Indigenous man, and no
Of the acclimated alien from different cline
And here | will say that have used tn
locality Of South America in this, as iu M
previous article, as a unit Of comparison
because those more than any other placs
are these causes and effects found carried I
J extremes that is the warmest and mo,
moist continent in the world.
Now there bears IN his whole characte
and constitution the inefable stamp Of th
peculiarly vegetable climate, as he lives con
tinually surrounded by the warm vaporou
atmosphere, and overshsdowed by a rank
luxuriant, sweating vegetation he has i'm
bibed, to an extent, The influences surround
ing him his color, his Emphatic temper
ament and indolent habits betray the pre-
ponderance in his nature of the listless
! vegetable element; he cannot endure even
: for short time, the hard labor Of the AR
can, or the privations Of the Esquimaux; 0
to mark the comparison better still, Of hl
! North American brother in nerve and color
the hardy; warlike aboriginal Of the Mort
American prairies. 1t is then in the Easter
Hemisphere that we find vegetation mos
barren, and animal life most in the ascend
ant. From there come to this land both tn
bold explorers and the hardy settler. Tn
tide Of emigration and refinement has eve
been setting from East to West, and becsus
that was the first and the real home Of man
Ii is fact too plain to require demonstrs
ton, that the national chars cteristics of an
! race Of men are formed by their diet an
the character Of the atmosphere in whic
they live. =
|, The GreeRlander every day Of his lii
endures, almost unconsciously, privatio
and peril that the enervated native Of Brazi
or Peru would sink under in week.
: Now what do The observations of this an
the article Of last week 60 to establishS VIII
simply this-tha. he character Of all lif,
whether higher OF lower animal function.
and even more SO vegetable life--is moulde
and determined BY the humidity or drynes
of the atmosphere more than 81 any Gths
great cause. This being granted, we se
that for the production and perfection Of tn
highest animal life, including mans, is ne
cessarily dry continental element, for tn
lower animal life, as insects and reptiles; an,
for excessive luxuriarce in leafy vegetation
is required the moist, warm oceanic element
The same condition Of climate produce IN,
concentrated spices, and the massive als
plant or the implacable tiger of Indian iun
gles. P.MH