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Show 256 DISSERT. nr. '--v---1 I ' · H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X .J C 0~ plants, the earth and plants make animals J the earth, the plants, an.d the animals make man. The phyfical qualities of man, and the ammals which feed on other animals, depend, though more remotely, on the fame caufes, which influence their difpofitions and cufi:oms. This is the greateft proof and demonftration, .that in tcmper~te climes ev~y thing becomes temperate, and th~t in mt~mperate chmes every thmg is exceffive . and that fize and form wh1ch appear fixed and determinate quaiities, depend notwithftanding, like the relative qualities, on the influence of climate. The fize of our quadrupeds can(lot be compared with that of an elephant, the rhinoceros,. or fea-horf~. The brgeft of our birds are but fmall if compared w1th the oftnom, the condore, and cafoare." So far Mr. Buffon, whofe text we have copied, becaufe it is of importance to our purpofe, and entirely contrary to what M. de Paw writes againft the climate of America, and Buffon himfdf in many other places. If the large and :fierce animals are natives of intemperate climes, and [mall and tranquil animals of temperate climes, ·as Mr. Buffon has here eftablifhed; if mildnefs of climate influences the difpofition and cuftoms of animals, Mr. de Paw does not well deduce the malignity of the climate of America from the fmaller fize-~nd lefs fiercenefs of ~ts animals; he ought .rather· to have deduced the gentlenefs and fweetnefs of its climate from this antecedent. If, on the contrary, the fmaller fize and lefs fierccn~fs of the American animals, with refpetl:. to thofe of the old continent, are a proof of their degeneracy, arifing the malignity of the clime, as Mr. de Paw would have it, we ought in like manner to argue the malignity of the climate qf Europe from the fmaller fize and lefs fiercenefs of its animals, compared with thofe of Africa. If a philofopher of the country of Guinea lhould· undert: ike a work in imitation of M. de Paw, with this title, Recherches Phi!ojophiquts fur lcs Europtens, he might avail himfelf of the .ftune argument which M. de Paw ufes to demonftrate the malignity of the climate of Europe, and the advantages of that of Africa. The climate of Europe, he would fay, is very unfavourable to the ,produCtion of quadrupeds, which are found incomparably fmallcr, and more cowardly than ours. What are the horfe and the ox, the largeft of its animals, compared with our elephants, our rhinocerof(;s, our [e:l~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E- X I C 0. fea-horfes, and our camels ? What are its lizards, either in fize or intrepidity, compared with our crocodiles? lts wolves, its bears, the moJ1: dread~ul of its wild beafts, when befidc our lions and tygers ? Its eagles, JtS vultures, and cranes, if compared with. our ofl:riches, appear only like hens. In order to. avoid prolix'ity, we omit other fuch obfervat~ons which might be made againft Europe, ftill adh ring to the matenals and words of M. de Paw. What Buffon and de Paw wou1d anfwer to that African philofopher, we will now an[wer to thofe philofophers of Europe; fince their arguments either do not prove~ that the climate of America is bad, or fay that the climate of Europ.e is bad,. or at lea{\: that ,the African is better than the European climate. Fro~ the fcarcity nnd finallnefs of quadrupeds M. de Paw pafies to the enormous fi~e,l, and prodigious multiplication of the infeCts, and other noxious little animals. " The furface of the earth, he fays, in" feCl:ed by putrefat1:ion, was over-run· with lizards, ferpents, reptiles,. "and infeCts monfl:rous for fize, and the activity of their poifon, which " they drew from the copious juices of this uncultivated foil, that was u corrupted and abandoned to itfelf, where the nutritive juice became " lharp, like the milk in the breaft of animals which do not exercife the, " virtue of propagation. Caterpillars, crabs, butterflies, beetles, fpiu ders, frogs, and toads, were for the mo£1: part of an enormous cor-:: pulence i.n ~heir fpeci~s, and multiplied beyond what can be imagined •. Panama IS mfefted with ferpents, Carthagena with clouds of enor" mous bats,. Portobello with toads,. Surinam with kakerlacas or cuca" rachas, Guadaloupe, and the other colonies. of the iflands, with bee:: ties, ~~to wi.th niguas or. chegoes, and Lima with lice and bugs. The anc1ent kJJ;gs of Mex1co, and the emperors of Peru, found no :: other means of ~idding .th~ir fubjetl:s of th.ofe infeCl:s, which fed upon " the~, than th~ 1mpo6qon of an annual tnbute, of a certain quan~ity of hce. Ferdinand Cortes found bags full of them in the palace of " Mo.n.tezuma." .But this. argument, full throughout of falfi ty and exa. ggeratlo?s,. proves nothing again fl. the, climate of Amedca in g~neral, . much leis againft that of Mexico. There being fome lands in America, in which, on account of.ltheir heat; humidity, or want of inhabitants, large infeCts arc found:, and exceflively multiplied~ will. VoL. ll. L 1 prove- 257 DISSERT. III. '--"'v--J |