Page:The processes of history (IA processesofhisto01tegg).pdf/24

  while a correspondence must exist between these and the zones of temperature. Hence we arrive at the theory that, in both hemispheres, the isocultural bands follow the isothermal bands in all their deflections. In this view, it is evident, all the specific characteristics of humanity—physique, temperament, institutions, occupations, and ideas—are the more or less immediate reflection of habitat, and it is maintained that each breed of man which has changed its place of domicile has had to adopt the type of culture appropriate to the region into which it has penetrated.

The forms taken by this theory of the dependence of man on habitat are very numerous, but a few illustrations may serve to suggest the wide scope of its applications. Thus it has long been held that the advancement of man in northern Europe was a direct result of the inhospitable conditions which forced him to cultivate unprecedented habits of industry. Again, it has been explained that the extremes of character attributed to the Slav are due to the extremes of climate on the wind-swept steppes. The long and bitter cold, it is said, has enabled the Russian peasants to survive, since it has fostered the spirit