The Count of Monte Cristo

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"Completely so."

"Yes, I remember now your mentioning to me at Perugia something of this
sort."

"Indeed?" said the count with an air of surprise, remarkably well
counterfeited; "I really did not remember."

"I inquired of you if poisons acted equally, and with the same effect,
on men of the North as on men of the South; and you answered me that the
cold and sluggish habits of the North did not present the same aptitude
as the rich and energetic temperaments of the natives of the South."

"And that is the case," observed Monte Cristo. "I have seen Russians
devour, without being visibly inconvenienced, vegetable substances which
would infallibly have killed a Neapolitan or an Arab."