Vegetation re taste and imagination

1121. The influence of the, general aspect of vegetation on the taste and imagination of a people-the difference in this respect between the monotonous oak and pine forests of the temperate zones, and the picturesque assemblages of palms, mimosas, plaintains, and bamboos of the tropics-the influence of the nourishment, more or less stimulant, peculiar to different zones, on the character and energy of the passions; - these, Humboldt observes, unite the history of plants with the moral and political history of man.