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Show 254 DISSERT. Ill. '---v---J H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. no country might be fooner fuppofed. to have been ~xem'pted from th:rt calamity than Mexico ; for befides 1ts great elevat.ton above. the le~el of the fea, there is no inland country where pctrJ.fi.ed xmmne bod1cs are more rare·. S E C T. II. On tbe Climate of Mexico .. IF we were to employ ourfclves to refute all the abfurd' notiorrs· which M. de Paw has written againft the climate of America, a large volume inilcad of a diiTertation,. would be necefEtry. Let it fuffice to fay, he has colleCted all that has been fai.d by feveral authors, ri~ht or wrong, againfl: different particular countncs of the N~w Worl~, m order to prefent his readers with an alfemblage of fichons that 1s mon.ftrous and horrid, without confiderj'ng, that if we were to follow hrs fieps, and undertook to make a fimilar reprefentation of the different countries of which the old continent is compofed,. ·(which would not be difficult) we would make a defcription !till more hideous. than his; but as it would be foreign to our purpofe we wiU confine ourfelves to treat of the climate of Mexico. This country, as it is extremely extenfive, and divided' into fo marty provinces, difterent in their ~tuation, is necelf'arily fubj:~ed to a variety of climates. Some of ltS lands, fuch as the mal'lttme, are hot, and in general moi!l: and unhealthy; others are like all inland places, temperate, dry, and healthy. The latter are extremely high, the for:. mer very low. In fame the fouth wind, in others the eaft, and in others the north wind prevails. The greatefl: <.:old of any of the inhabited places, does not equal that of France or even Caftile; nor cart the greatefl heat be compared to that of Africa, or the dog-days in m:my countries of Europe. The difference betwen winter -and fum mer is !() little in any p.1rt, that the mo(l: delicate perfons wear the fame cloaths in Augufl: and January. This and a good deal more which we have already :C1id, refpeB:ing the mildnefs and fweetnefs of that c\imate is fo notorious, that there is no need of argumeQts to fup .. port it. M. de . . H I S T 0 R Y . 0 F M E X I C 0. M. de Paw in order to demon{l:rate the malignity of the American climate, adduces .fi.rft the finallnefs and irregularity of the animals of America. Secondly, the fize and enormous multiplication of the infects, and other little animals. Thirdly, the difeafes of the Ameri~ ans, and part1cularly the vene,:eal di (order. Fourthly, the defects of .their natural conftitution. Fifthly, the excefs of cold in the countries of America, in comparifon ·of thofe of the old continent, fituated at an equal diftance from the equator. But this fuppofed fmallnc:fs and lefs ferocity of the American auimals, of which we fl1all treat hereafter, infl:cad of the malignity, demonftrate the mildnefs and bounty of the clime, if we give credit to Buffon, at whofe fountain Sig. de Paw has drank, and of whofc teftimony he has availed himfelf againfl: Don Pernetty. Buffon who in many places of his Natural Hifi:ory prod tlces the fitpllnefs of the American animals as a certain argument of the malignity of the climate of America; in treating afterwards of favage animals, in tom. II. [peaks thus : " As all things, even the moll: free creatures, are fubjeCl: to natural laws, and animals as well as men arc fubjected to the influence of climate and foil, it appears that the tune caufes w hloh have civilized and poli01ed the human fpccics in our climates, may .have likewife produced fimilar effects upon other fpeci es . The wolf, which is perhaps the .fi.erceft of all the qnqdrupeds of the· temperate zone, is however incomparably lefs tenihlc than the tyger, the lion, and the panther of the torrid zone; and the white bear and hyena of the frigid zone. In America, where the air and the arth arc more mild than thofe of Africa, the tyger, the lion, and the po.nthcr, arc not terrible but in the name. They have degenerated, if .fi.ercenefs joined to cru .. elty, made their nat me; or, to fpeak more properly, they have on) y fu fie red the influence of the climate: under .a milder iky their nature alfo has become more mild. From clim s which are immoderate in thei,r temperature are obtained drugs, perfumes, poifons, and :-tll thofe plants who(c qualities are fl:rong. The t~mperate earth on the contrary, , prodnces only things which are temperate; the mildcfl: herbs, the moO: \\·holeCome pulfe, the fweetdl fruits, the moft quiet animal , and the moft hnmane men ar.e the natjvcs of this happy clime, A the earth mrtkes the • I ' I ' 255 DISSERT • . III. '--v--J |