The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-01-16

ering long periods OF time and great
areas of the carth's surface" With
the questions were ,ent a set of cards
containing the names Of nations and
subdivisions throughout the world and
another set with the names Of the
United States. and the request that
they grade them with percentages ac-
cording to this standard. Many of
the persons addressed were kind
enough to comply to such an extent
as to allow DR.. Huntington to tabu-
late the results; he groups them into
twenty-six Americans. eight British.
eight Continental Teutons, six Latins
with whom he joins one Russian, and
six Asiatics. half Japanese and half
Chinese. He has drawn maps
showing the distribution of civilization
according to each group and to all
combined and similar maps OF the
United States. He uses the devices
employed by all statisticians to mod
ify the outlines. and experts must de-
eide how seriously these are to be
taken.
These maps. as We understand II,
coincide practically with the statistics
and the curves in which they are ex-
pressed. that support DIR. Huntington's
weather ideas. He begins with a
process OF elimination. explaining how
white men degenerate. physically.
mentally and morally, when they dwell
for "A long period in the tropical re-
gions. The ~degeneracy is also shared
by the native races ainong whom the
whites are settled. Like conditions
prevail In the lands OF great and
steady cold. The d~egeneracy arises,
according to DR.. Huntington. not from
the temperature. but from the monot-
ony of nm ~unchanging climate. and he
gives as an instance Of the evil effects
of this in "A temperate zone the whites
who 1.-Two In the Bahama Islands. To
test the theory he has made a number
of curious experiments to test the ef-
iicicncy OF work in climates that are
variable: he has measured the work
throughout the year OF negroes and
OF white men laborinC under similar
conditions. north and south: of fac
tory workers. male and female. from
Tampa to Connecticut: OF school chill
drcn and army and navy cadets. Of
consumptives in the Adirondacks. and
~ '''''N''"' Sbt'iihVns III dtOTleS,
II mas compared them with the
weather record. lie draws the deduc-
ton that 1T seems to he a law Of
organic Ire nat variable temperature
Is better than uniformity"
Seeking. in consequence, the regions
where the changes in weather. daily
and periodical, are most frequent,
those IN which storms that are not too
violent or steady prevail and thus
Keep up n efficiency OF living beings.
Dr. huntington draws a map showing
the distribution OF m energy,
which includes a broad belt Of the
United states and the British prov
inces To M Rocky Mountains. with
satisfactorily active belts south n
north. while In Europe-Asia h most
energetic belt includes France, Great
Britain. northern Italy, Germany.
Austria-Hungary. southern Scandi-
navia and the Baltic provinces Of
Russia. II the secondary belt COM
rrises practically all the rest Of Eu-
rope and Japan. A fairly accurate
description Of that portion Of human
ity which considers itself civilized in
the twentieth century, whose ideals
are energy, hustle and efficiency. n
description which fits In neatly also
with the map drawn from the straw
vote" Or. Huntington drew from the
scientific experts. 1t IL a good work
ing theory that seems 10 apply TO our
civilization OF the moment. II be-