i64 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ances in civil life following the commercial panic of 1893 was shown 

 by the 'Coxey army of 1894' and the Chicago riots. 



It is interesting to read the various causes given for financial panics 

 and political upheavals even by historians. In 1837, the cause was said to 

 be the State Banks. In 1857, it was the too rapid railroad expansion. 

 In 1873, it was the reaction from the lavish expenditures attending the 

 civil war and the contraction of the currency. In 1893, it was the low 

 tariff and the 'free silver craze.' All of these may have been con- 

 tributory causes, but if my assumption is correct that deficiency of rain- 

 fall is the paramount cause in this chain of events, then vast political 

 and historical changes have been brought about, and the thoughts of 

 men have been swayed by opinions which are akin to superstitions, 

 because they attribute to human action what is due largely to natural 

 causes beyond the control of man. 



The recent period of financial distress (1893-97) in the United 

 States was also a period of financial distress in Europe. This 

 may have been due to the fact that Europe depends to a large extent 

 on the United States for its food supply; or to the fact (which recent 

 observations seem to indicate) that long periods of drought and ex- 

 cessive rainfall embrace a large part of the world, if not the whole 

 world, in their operations, and are due perhaps to changes taking 

 place in the sun. 



The following extract from an American newspaper reprinted in 

 the English periodical 'Xature,' 1895 (Vol. 53, p. 78), shows that 

 severe droughts in other parts of the world were coincident with the 

 one in the United States: 



The long drought, which has caused so much inconvenience and damage this 

 fall, seems to have prevailed all round the world, if not in every part of it. 

 Europe has experienced it almost equally with this country, and in Australia it 

 has been more severe tlian here. So great was the distress in New South 

 Wales, that the Government appointed a Sunday in September as a day of 

 prayer for rain, and special services in accord with the proclamation were held 

 in all the churches of every denomination in Sydney and throughout the pro- 

 vince. The drought occurred in tlie antipodean spring, and greatly retarded 

 planting operations, as well as doing great general damage. In many districts 

 the grass was literally burned oflf the earth, and the mortality among stock was 

 great. The railway trains carried supplies of water from lakes and rivers to all 

 stricken points along the lines, selling it at the rate of 25 cents a thousand 

 gallons. The water supply of many towns entirely failed, the inconvenience ex- 

 perienced was acute everywhere, and many agriculturists were ruined. 



The existence of this drought is confirmed by recent meteorological 

 reports from Australia. (See 'Science' of January 11, 1901, p. 75. A 

 note concerning a simultaneous drought in Great Britain is found in 

 'Nature,' 1895, Vol. 53, p. 597.). These years were followed by rapid 

 changes in political parties in Europe, especially in Great Britain and 

 France. 



