One not infrequently sees in discussions of this nature the statement that in warm regions, where food is easily obtainable, and little shelter or clothing is necessary for the comfort of man, he sinks into indolence, and remains in a state of ignorance and degeneracy. It is urged that only in such a climate as necessitates exertion and foresight during the summer in order to provide food, shelter and clothing with which to pass a severe winter in comfort, will man develop in a satisfactory way the higher virtues of civilization. The theory has been postulated that energy, aggressiveness, frugality, foresight, inventiveness, solicitude for dependents, respect for property rights and other virtues of man in his most highly advanced condition, are best fostered in a climate that offers vicissitudes, and requires that the life of the individual shall be a struggle with his environment.

Others tell us, and it appears logical, that as long as man is forced to spend his days in a struggle for existence he cannot develop his higher mental qualities. It is said that the creation of an aristocratic element in society, whose wants are supplied by the labor and sacrifice of a less fortunate group, establishes the ideal condition for fostering the mental growth that comes from reflection and the study of the ideas of others.

There is doubtless an element of truth in each of these views regarding the conditions under which man will best develop his mental capacities. Leisure is essential to certain types of creative thought. Thought is stimulated profoundly through discussion, reading and observation of the phenomena of nature. It is not yet demonstrated, however, that such creative thought is possible or probable only in temperate regions where there are frequent and pronounced changes in temperature. One of the conditions of progress is hopefulness and a realization of one's powers. In temperate regions the problems of life are less difficult to solve than they are in the tropics. The winters destroy, or prevent the invasion of many forms of insect life which go unhampered in tropical climes. The cattle tick and the Tsetse-fly, which bear respectively the Texas fever and the sleeping sickness do not survive the northern winters, and the population of these regions enjoy freedom from these diseases. Cold winters limit the number of species of weeds and other noxious plants, and render the production of useful crops less laborious. These are factors of the greatest importance to agriculture and to the welfare of man. In the tropics the problems set for solution before the mind of man have been of greater magnitude and more difficult to solve. Accordingly the natives have not only not solved them, but have become crushed by them. They have suffered from lack of power to overcome their enemies, and have been forced to live the lives of fugitives in the more favored nooks where nature made conditions less disheartening. In order that he may progress, man must not be faced by insuperable difficulties. He must gain his confidence and his mastery over the forces of nature in the more favorable parts of the world. From these points of vantage, confident of his powers, he will through the work of that most valuable, although numerically very small element in the population, the laboratory investigators, acquire the necessary knowledge, then lay his plans for the conquest of one of Nature's greatest prizes, the tropics.