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444 LIFE. ceivethe immutable eternity ofthe laws which guide them, and the ever- varying appearance of the facts which spring from them. A still more important fact is. that man is constantly incited to labor; for, notwithstanding the beneficence of nature in these temperate regions, it is only shown in moderation, and to those who study and understand her. In the spring the ground must be cultivated in prospect of winter, and each season must be made a preparation for that which follows. Confident in the bounty of the earth, the laborer learns to deprive himself of a part of the grain which forms his very existence, knowing that some day he will gather, a harvest from it; by incessant and successful efforts he acquires shrewdness, knowledge, cheerfulness, and love of life. Therefore, in all the countries of the temperate zone which are blessed with a fertile, well-watered, healthy soil, and are provided with easy channels of communication, there has always been a numerous and increasing population, in spite of the wars, massacres, and invasions to which rival ambition has so often given rise. As far as Asia is concerned, the central part of the temperate region is the locality where we find that " rich central flower " which by itself comprehends more than a quarter of the human race; at the other extremity of the Old World, it is also toward the middle of the same zone—in Belgium, England, and Northern France— that we find swarms of men living in the closest proximity to one another. Belgium is the country which has the largest population as compared to the whole world, and contains more than one inhabitant to each acre, or at least a quantity twenty times greater than the rest ofthe continent. Greece, which is one of the least populous countries of temperate Europe, is, however, in proportion three times more thickly populated than the whole of the dry land of the earth taken as a whole. The comparative populations of the two countries may be imagined from the two preceding maps, in which, according to a somewhat different system to that of M. Minard, the density of the inhabitants for an equal surface is made proportional to the number of squares. The space of 2050 miles in width comprehended between the 25th and 26th degree north latitude,, which is not even a third of the continental surface, contains two-thirds of the population of the globe, and this is the tract of country where, in our time, the number of inhabitants is still increasing with the greatest rapidity.
Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
Publisher | Harper |
Place of Publication | New York |
Date | 1873 |
Language | eng |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Title | 00000489 |
Type | Books/Pamphlets |
Transcript | 444 LIFE. ceivethe immutable eternity ofthe laws which guide them, and the ever- varying appearance of the facts which spring from them. A still more important fact is. that man is constantly incited to labor; for, notwithstanding the beneficence of nature in these temperate regions, it is only shown in moderation, and to those who study and understand her. In the spring the ground must be cultivated in prospect of winter, and each season must be made a preparation for that which follows. Confident in the bounty of the earth, the laborer learns to deprive himself of a part of the grain which forms his very existence, knowing that some day he will gather, a harvest from it; by incessant and successful efforts he acquires shrewdness, knowledge, cheerfulness, and love of life. Therefore, in all the countries of the temperate zone which are blessed with a fertile, well-watered, healthy soil, and are provided with easy channels of communication, there has always been a numerous and increasing population, in spite of the wars, massacres, and invasions to which rival ambition has so often given rise. As far as Asia is concerned, the central part of the temperate region is the locality where we find that " rich central flower " which by itself comprehends more than a quarter of the human race; at the other extremity of the Old World, it is also toward the middle of the same zone—in Belgium, England, and Northern France— that we find swarms of men living in the closest proximity to one another. Belgium is the country which has the largest population as compared to the whole world, and contains more than one inhabitant to each acre, or at least a quantity twenty times greater than the rest ofthe continent. Greece, which is one of the least populous countries of temperate Europe, is, however, in proportion three times more thickly populated than the whole of the dry land of the earth taken as a whole. The comparative populations of the two countries may be imagined from the two preceding maps, in which, according to a somewhat different system to that of M. Minard, the density of the inhabitants for an equal surface is made proportional to the number of squares. The space of 2050 miles in width comprehended between the 25th and 26th degree north latitude,, which is not even a third of the continental surface, contains two-thirds of the population of the globe, and this is the tract of country where, in our time, the number of inhabitants is still increasing with the greatest rapidity. |
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