BOOK XIV.
Of Laws as relative to the Nature of the Climate.
CHAP. I.
General Idea.
Book XIV.
Chap. 1, & 2.IF it be true that the character of the mind, and the passions of the heart are extremely different in different climates, the laws ought to be relative both to the difference of those passions, and to the difference of those characters.
CHAP. II.
Of the Difference of Men in different Climates.
A COLD air[1] constringes the extremities of the external fibres of the body; this increases their elasticity, and favors the return of the blood from the extremities to the heart. It contracts[2] those very fibres; consequently it increases also their force. On the contrary a warm air relaxes and lengthens the extremes of the fibres; of course it diminishes their force and elasticity.
People are therefore more vigorous in cold climates. Here the action of the heart and the re-
