POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



141 



Canadian Forest PreserYation. In his 



paper at the American Forestry Congress, 

 on "Forest Preservation in Canada," Mr. 

 A. T. Drummond sketched a plan for the 

 preservation and renewal of forests which 

 might in some respects be equally applica- 

 ble to the United States and Canada. Leases 

 of public timber areas should be restricted 

 to definite periods of five or at most seven 

 years, with a rule that, after the expiration 

 of the lease, the land should have rest for 

 twenty years to allow the young timber to 

 grow up. The timber limits should be re- 

 stricted in size to about fifty square miles, 

 as is now done in Manitoba. This would 

 enable the Government more systematically 

 to carry out the system of alternate leases 

 and rests. The production of square tim- 

 ber should be discouraged, on account of 

 the great waste of material in forming the 

 square log, and of the additional food for 

 forest-fires which the waste material cre- 

 ates. The cutting on public lands of trees 

 under twelve inches at the stump should be 

 punishable by a heavy fine. This would 

 have the effect of preserving the younger 

 trees till they attained a merchantable size. 

 The starting of forest-fires should be made 

 criminal. Wherever the forests have been 

 cut over by the lumbermen and wherever 

 fires have swept through areas of public 

 lands not specially suitable or available for 

 settlement, reserving or replanting with 

 proper kinds of timber should be attended 

 to. Lastly, the forests should be put under 

 the charge of suitable officers. 



Sea Air and Mountain Air. In a paper 

 on "the Climatic Treatment of Phthisis," 

 Dr. Harold Williams, of Boston, considers 

 the question of what conditions make a 

 climate say of the sea or the mountains, to 

 either of which patients are generally sent 

 favorable for the treatment of consumption. 

 They can not be conditions of moisture, or 

 of atmospheric pressure, or of variability of 

 temperature, for these are opposite on the 

 sea and on mountains. The only conditions 

 in which the two classes of location agree 

 with any precision are those of purity of 

 air and of the proportion of ozone constitu- 

 ent. Sea air contains small quantities of 

 saline particles, and of iodine and bromine, 

 while mountain air is usually lower in tem- 



perature and more diathermanous ; but these 

 are not regarded as essential qualities. One 

 fact to be regarded in considering the ques- 

 tion is that, with or without treatment, cer- 

 tain cases of phthisis naturally tend to re- 

 covery. Another fact is that any change of 

 climate which is often accompanied by a 

 change of scene, of habits, of exercise, of 

 food, of dress, of thought, and of surround- 

 ings is of importance in cases of disease. 

 When all the meteorological differences be- 

 tween the air of the mountains and the air 

 of the sea are summed up, the sea-air seems 

 to possess certain possible advantage over 

 that of the mountains, " in that it is warmer 

 and purer, and that it presents slighter va- 

 riations, both of temperature and humidity. 

 But this, it must be remembered, is the air 

 over the sea itself, air that can only be pre- 

 scribed through the medium of ocean voy- 

 ages, a prescription open to the grave ob- 

 jections of idiosyncrasy against the sea ; 

 sea-sickness ; anxiety at leaving friends, 

 fears of dangers, lack of companionship, 

 variety, and exercise ; and, above all, inferi- 

 ority of food. Added to which is the diffi- 

 culty of selecting a voyage which shall ex- 

 tend over a sufficiently long period of time." 

 Hence sea air, though perhaps the best of 

 all kinds, is really available for only a few. 

 Island and seaboard stations resemble most 

 nearly the sea, but differ from it with re- 

 spect to variations of temperature and hu- 

 midity, and purity of the air. " Physiologi- 

 cally speaking, therefore, it may be said that 

 mountain air is no better than island or sea- 

 board air, because it is colder and more lia- 

 ble to sudden and excessive changes of tem- 

 perature, while, on the other hand, it may 

 be contended that island or seaboard air is 

 no better than mountain air, because of its 

 diminished purity." An important factor 

 always to be consulted is the idiosyncrasy 

 of the particular patient, for or against the 

 sea or the mountains. "We must admit 

 that, in the present state of our knowledge, 

 the meteorological differences of climate 

 have been proved to be of little importance 

 in the treatment of phthisis." But there 

 are probably beneficial effects of a change 

 of climate which we may regard as due to 

 factors common to all groups of health re- 

 sorts, and which vary only in degree. These 

 factors are : the change itself ; the purity 



