Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/874

 858 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

existence are changed. Dangers are less numerous, the climate more healthy, earthquakes less frequent, hurricanes less disas- trous, and wild beasts and noxious animals less abundant. Everything tended to exalt the dignity of man, while in India everything tended to depress it. Europeans, therefore, had more respect for human powers. "Human beings, less humble," says Mr. Buckle, "as it were less eclipsed by the' external world, thought more of their own powers, and human nature did not fall into that discredit into which it elsewhere sank." It is thus that he accounts for the deification of mortals as a part of the national religion of Greece. 1

We need not, however, commit ourselves to extreme theories in regard to the influence of land on population. The fact of this influence will be shown in any group we may undertake to study. It is illustrated in the location of almost every city, town, and village. The site of a city is not often a matter of chance. Water courses, natural products, all physical conditions have something to do with its choice, and the contour of the land upon which a city is built helps to determine the direction of its streets; physical conditions locate its residence portion, its man- ufacturing districts, and its slums, and all these things have their effects upon the character of the population.

That land exerts an influence also on the production of wealth is no less obvious, and this fact must not be lost sight of in any social investigation. Among the causes affecting the efficiency of production Mr. Mill mentions the following: fertility of the soil, the influence of climate, the abundance of mineral productions, and the advantages of situation. "It is evident," says Buckle, "that among an entirely ignorant people the rapidity with which wealth is created will be solely regulated by the physical peculiarities of their country. At a later period, and when wealth has been capitalized, other causes come into play." As a matter of fact the character of the land practically

1 See History of Civilization in England, chap. 2, passim. Compare also CROZIER'S Civilization and Progress. "The industrial and social conditions of men," he says, "are, if not the sole cause, at least the controlling factor in civilization and progress."