DESICCATION THE WORK OF MAN. 161 



Dr. F. Simon}', of Vienna, says : " Of Persia we learn that, although this 

 country is two and a half times as large as the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, 

 it has now not more than six or seven millions of inhabitants; and that, 

 in spite of the thinness of the population, it is a region often devastated by 

 famine. It is reported that in the j-ears 1871 - 72 between one and a half 

 and tAvo millions of people died from starvation. And yet this kingdom once 

 was counted among the mightiest and most flourishing states of Asia, while 

 the yield of its cultivated land, thanks to its thorough system of irrigation, 

 was enough to support a population many times as large as that now exist- 

 ing there. And this has all happened in consequence of the continued destruction of 

 the forests in the mountains, which noio stand there naked and barren,''* [In Folge 

 der fortgesetzten Verwiistung der Walder in den Gebirgen, welche gegen- 

 wartig nackt und diirr dastehen.] 



At the International Congress of Land and Forest Culturists, held at 

 Vienna in September, 1873, instances were cited showing that, "2h consequence 

 of clearings, there has been a gradual decrease in the depths of the large 

 streams of all countries."! 



On the 27th February, 1856, the subject of the change of climate conse- 

 quent on the removal of forests was brought before the French Chamber of 

 Deputies by M. Ladoucette, deputy for the Moselle, who asserted that in the 

 whole of the Eastern Pyrenees and the Herault the destruction of timber had 

 been calamitous. The temperature became higher, wells and water-courses 

 diminished, while the dryness of the climate was greatly increased. Accord- 

 ing to Professor Laurent, of Nancy, desolation has been brought upon the 

 nations of the East, — "upon Babylon and Nineveh, Thebes, Memphis, Car- 

 thage, Palestine and the Troad " bi/ the loss of their forests. t 



The number of quotations, to the same effect, and referring to the desic- 

 cated regions of Asia and the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, 

 could be multiplied indefinitely. Some additional ones have already been 

 furnished in the preceding chapter, in cases where the description of 

 the phenomena, as given by some authors, could not readily be separated 

 from their theory of the causes of the same. A few more citations will 

 be made from authors writing in or of America, in order that it may 



* III a little work entitled "Schutz dem Walde" — Protection for the Forests — published at Vienna, in 

 1S78, p. 15. 



t Quoted from F. B. Hough's Report upon Forestry. Washington, 1878, p. 292. 



t Quoted from Hough's Report, p. 293. The writer has taken the liberty of italicizing a few words in each of 

 the quotations. 



