Note 226 — Chapter XI

In the observations with which the author begins this chapter, he hazards assertions very erroneous. The intense heat in the tropical regions is destructive both to men and to animals. At Calcutta, which lies at a considerable distance from the line, wild pigeons sometimes drop down dead at noon, while flying over the market-place. People who are then employed in any labour, such as writers in the service of the East India Company, whose correspondence often will not admit of delay, sit naked immersed up to the neck in large vessels, into which cold water is continually pumped by slaves from a well. Such a country cannot be favourable to health or longevity. What are properly called the northern regions, are also a wretched and melancholy residence for the human race. It is only a moderate climate, such as that of Greece, Italy, and other countries lying under the same latitude, that can exalt men’s ideas, and produce the utmost degree of happiness. These gave birth to those illuminating rays which have contributed to the improvement of the human mind; and which, diffused thence to colder climates, still exercise their beneficent influence. F.