This is,
however, an error. Just as our atmosphere becomes ever less dense
according to its distance from the earth's centre of gravity, so this
fifth element, as one retires farther from the city of Munich.
It would be an interesting inquiry for the medical man, who seeks to
enlarge his knowledge of the _vis medicatrix Naturae_, for the
philanthropist, who would stimulate or increase the means of human
happiness, and remove or diminish those of human misery, and even for
the statistician, alike indifferent to both: _Why do particular articles
of diet and beverage concentrate their use so much in particular
climates, lands, and localities?_ Within certain limits the question is
easy. The inhabitant of the tropics lives on the bread-fruit, the
plantain, the orange, the fig, and the date. They grow around him, drop
as it were into his mouth, and are just what he needs to allay his
hunger and support his nature. The Greenlanders and the Esquimaux of
Labrador eat the flesh of bears, reindeer, and seals, and even drink
their fat by the quart. Fruits, if they were to be had, would not meet
their wants, and Providence has ordered accordingly.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157