PREFATORY 7 



be allowed to rise to fifteen millions, and that of Scotland to 

 the same figure, with additional increases to the population of 

 England and Wales, more especially in the existing towns. But 

 the time must come when we shall have to make up our minds, 

 as a nation, to increased emigration towards less thickly inhabited 

 parts of the world, or to the artificial checking of population. 

 Why should we not copy Japan, where a very large population 

 apparently can co-exist with a rich fauna and flora, and with 

 landscapes of superb natural beauty ? As regards both animals 

 and plants in that country, the explanation probably lies in the 

 fact that the Japanese have no craze for destroying birds and 

 beasts in the cause of " sport," and no desire to grub up field 

 flowers and transplant them to town gardens. Neither have 

 they developed that worst sign of perverted taste which we 

 display in mixing our flora and fauna. The Japanese develops 

 with care the flora that he finds in his own land. He does not 

 go about planting exotic bushes in his woods and wastes, as we 

 confuse the aspects of English landscapes by rhododendrons and 

 araucarlas. In like manner the monkey, which has long since 

 vanished from England, still exists in Japan ; while the Japanese 

 bird fauna, commemorated by their unapproached art, has added 

 a notable value to the sum of human happiness. 



