have been overstated; and allowance must be made for the infant state of agriculture in those districts; for all countries necessarily suffer more or less during the earlier stages of agricultural improvement, when the lands are first thrown open and proper means are not adopted for their draining and inclosing." The facts alluded to by Bell prove that cultivation may be made to exercise a beneficial or pernicious influence over climate, in proportion to the amount of scientific information brought to bear upon the local circumstances of particular districts. This is fully warranted by the condition of some parts of America. Many parts of that vast continent which were formerly unhealthy are now blessed with a comparatively salubrious atmosphere and the general healthfulness of the whole is much improved. This is owing entirely to the cultivation of the soil, as is proved by the changes which have taken place in the atmosphere of those districts that have been subjected to the purifying processes of agriculture. Professor Dunglison, speaking of the influence of climate upon health, says :— "In entering upon the investigation of various circumstances that affect human health, there is none perhaps that demands an earlier consideration than the influence of the atmosphere, and of the local characteristics which occasion such a diversity in the salubrity of dif ferent countries, and districts of the said country, Whilst we observe the inhabitants of the more mountainous regions of our own country enjoying robust health, we may find those of the lower districts near the ocean, or dwelling on the banks of our larger streams, liable to diseases, which are endemic, or the products of such situations; and daily observation instructs us, that the air of the city is not possessed of all those advantages, for the preservation of health, which the more pure air of the country affords. "We find again, that particular regions of the globe are liable to diseases known only to them: the base of lofty mountains constitutes a locality almost every where favourable to the developement of the Goître, or swelled neck: the smiling plains of Italy are saddened by the prevalence of the Pellagra-a loathsome cutaneous affection; and the plains of the torrid zone are affected with the Yellow Fever. All these diseases are produced by local causes-originating from the particular state of the atmosphere-as regards its barometrical, thermometrical, hygrometrical, and electrical conditions, singly or combinedand from the existence of certain emanations from the soil; which last, indeed, in the minds of some, have been looked upon as the sole cause of the difference of salubrity between different countries."* Colonel Francis Hall, in his work on the present state of Columbia, has some pertinent remarks on the diseases to which the natives of Columbia are subject; and as these remarks tend * Elements of Hygiène, p. 33. to shew the influence of climate over health, and of cultivation over climate, I feel pleasure in presenting them to the reader. "The diseases of the mountainous and temperate districts are few and simple, nor require a treatment different from that which is commonly known and pursued in the north of Europe. There is, however, one exception to this rule; this is the malady known by the name of papos in this country, and that of Goître in Switzerland: it appears in the shape of a swelling on the throat, which rapidly increases, so as often to become larger than the head itself. Besides the peculiar deformity of this malady, it is observed to be so radical a sign of constitutional weakness, that the children of goîtred parents are commonly deaf or dumb, and in the succeeding generation become entirely idiots. This disease exists to an alarming extent through the whole of the mountainous region of the interior; villages are to be met with in which there is scarcely an individual but bears this unseemly excrescence. The cause of it has been much disputed on, and with little success; the prevailing opinion attributes it to the waters, although the great distance in which it is to be met with, through tracts of country watered by streams of all descriptions, renders this improbable. The plant barachero, has also had the reputation of causing it, by infecting the waters near which it grows: a more probable cause seems to be, constitutional debility, whatever may be its origin; in proof of which we may observe, that goitres prevail in those parts of the country, the inhabitants of which are noted for feebleness, both moral and physical; that among these, women and men of sedentary and inactive habits are chiefly attacked by it; and finally, that such as are engaged in constant exercise, the boatmen of the Magdalena for example, escape altogether. With respect to the cure, no panacea has yet been discovered in its earliest stages, however, the tumour may be cut away without danger, and a change of climate seldom fails to disperse it; burnt sponge has also been used with success; but when the complaint has made great progress, it would be unsafe to operate surgically, and the case may be considered remediless. "The diseases which reign with peculiar violence on the sea coast, on the borders of great rivers, and in all hot, low, and damp situations, are fevers and dysenteries. The exhalations of noxious miasmata, which escape from stagnant waters and from waste uncultivated lands are generally considered the primary cause of the first; while unwholesome diet, bad water, intemperance, and whatever tends to derange the digestive faculty, may be regarded as the principal causes of the second; and very often directly or indirectly of both. It is consoling, however, to reflect that all these causes are, more or less, subject to the control of man. Experience has abundantly proved, that in proportion as the soil is cleared and exposed to the rays of the sun for the purpose of cultivation, noxious exhalations diminish, or are rapidly dispersed through the atmosphere. In towns and villages the evil would scarcely exist, were it not from the want of police and the indolence of the inhabitants, who suffer the environs of their habitations to be encumbered with stagnant pools, bushes, and all kinds of filth and rubbish; a neglect which not unfrequently proves as fatal to themselves as to strangers. In forming a new settlement too much attention cannot be paid to choosing a dry elevated situation: the immediate neighbourhood of small lakes or ponds should be carefully avoided. The lands round the village should be cleared as soon as possible, so as to admit a free circulation of air, which is scarcely to be obtained in any of the creole villages; unless accidently afforded by local circumstances. Such lakes or ponds as are necessary to be retained, should be left surrounded by a small belt of trees, by which the noxious vapours will in a great measure be absorbed; it is desirable also to avoid approaching them after sunset, or early in the morning, especially with an empty stomach; a proper attention to clearing and cleansing the immediate neighbourhood of the settlement will also powerfully contribute to destroy the swarms of sand-flies and mosquitos, so tormenting to Europeans."* These statements speak volumes as to the influence of climate over health, and of cultivation over climate. From them it appears that wherever the soil has been placed under a proper system of culture there disease has diminished with great rapidity. The inferences deducible from these facts are too obvious to require a formal statement. The manner in which man and other animals are fitted to bear the heat of the coldest and the warmth of the hottest climates is exceedingly curious. The quantity of heat supplied by the organs of calorification varies with the necessities of the animal. Thus, some animals are adapted to bear excessive cold; others are fitted to reside in warmer lattitudes; while man, who possesses reason, is adapted to reside in all climates. Gifted with superior intelligence, he is enabled to subdue the elements, and to cause them to minister to his convenience and gratification. As man is adapted therefore to reside in all countries; as nature proclaims him to be a cosmopolite, it is of importance to him that the earth should be placed under a system of scientific cultivation. The operations of such a system would be productive of benefits of the immensity and value of which we can scarcely form an accurate conception. The healthful breeze would then career over those portions of the globe where its presence is necessary to render the atmosphere salubrious. The mighty forests would tower in those parts where their barrier is required to stay the march of those winds which carry death and desolation on their wings. The soil would be improved; stagnant marshes dried up; healthgiving exhalations would arise instead of putrid effluvia; the rivers would be confined by the patient hand of industry within their proper channels; the fields would be covered with corn and other fruits; the earth would be transformed into a garden, and Eden would bloom again. * Present state of Colombia, p. 116. But it is natural for the cautious and deliberating mind to exclaim, "all these results which you predicate of a universal system of scientific cultivation are exceedingly beautiful to look upon in perspective; but how can you establish the system which is to be the parent of such a delightful series of effects? How can you cause men to join themselves together for the accomplishment of a common object so vast, and yet so beneficial to mankind?" In answer to these questions, I need only point to the progress of national improvement; to the march of intellect and of civilization; to the breaking up of old notions; to the dissipation of long established prejudices and to the marked decay of that reverence for time-hallowed institutions which have marked the lapse of the last ten years. A change has come over us which passes not as a summer cloud, unheeded and uncared for, but which truly excites our wonder, and warrants us to anticipate still greater things of progressive humanity. Let men receive the benefits of a universal system of education, and let them be soundly convinced that a universal combination of skill and labour for the accomplishment of a universal purpose would be universally beneficial, and there can be no doubt but that mere self-interest, under the guidance of rational principle, will lead them to band themselves together for the accomplishment of such an object as that of the fertilization of the world. When the interest of monarchs renders it necessary that they should combine their forces for the purpose of humbling an usurper or weakening the power of a common foe, their armies march into the field, and death and desolation follow in their train. When a mercantile company is desirous of founding a colony, or of establishing a lucrative branch of commerce, the principle of self-interest unites the energies of its members, and gives to them a unity of purpose, principle, and action, which enables the company to succeed. The resources of a nation can be, and frequently have been, directed towards the accomplishment of a national object. And why, we ask, may not the energies of mankind be brought to bear on the accomplishment of such a mighty, glorious, and beneficial object as the universal fertilization of the world? Is there any thing essential to the nature of man which would prevent it? Assuredly not! Then let Rationalists take courage and be of good cheer, for they shall overcome the world. If they be faithful to their principles, they will most certainly be the instruments whereby the reign of charity and peace shall be introduced, and a universal system of agriculture established, which shall fertilize the soil and render this beautiful world a paradise indeed. |