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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  erosion. 
  Eroded 
  soils 
  and 
  debris 
  have 
  choked 
  up 
  stream 
  channels 
  in 
  

   the 
  plains, 
  converting 
  these 
  coastal 
  plains 
  into 
  marshes. 
  Malaria 
  

   made 
  the 
  lowlands 
  pestilential, 
  weakened 
  or 
  practically 
  depopulated 
  

   extensive 
  populous 
  areas. 
  

  

  Such 
  is 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  Pontine 
  Marshes 
  in 
  Italy, 
  whose 
  reclama- 
  

   tion 
  is 
  an 
  outstanding 
  example 
  of 
  the 
  application 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  

   sciences 
  of 
  medicine, 
  engineering, 
  and 
  agriculture 
  to 
  such 
  problems. 
  

   The 
  Pontine 
  Marshes 
  were 
  once 
  well 
  populated 
  if 
  we 
  are 
  to 
  accept 
  

   as 
  evidence 
  remains 
  of 
  16 
  cities 
  which 
  predated 
  Roman 
  occupation. 
  

   Following 
  the 
  rapid 
  rise 
  of 
  Rome 
  from 
  the 
  eighth 
  century 
  B. 
  C, 
  

   cultivation 
  of 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  Apennine 
  Mountains 
  took 
  the 
  same 
  

   course 
  as 
  it 
  did 
  in 
  Phoenicia. 
  By 
  the 
  fourth 
  century 
  B. 
  C. 
  Appius 
  

   Claudius 
  undertook 
  to 
  drain 
  the 
  marshes, 
  which 
  had 
  become 
  a 
  

   problem 
  (pi. 
  3, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  He 
  was 
  unsuccessful 
  in 
  reclaiming 
  these 
  

   pestilential 
  Pontine 
  Marshes 
  as 
  were 
  his 
  successors, 
  Julius 
  Caesar, 
  

   Trajan, 
  and 
  Theodoric, 
  and 
  later 
  on 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  Popes, 
  especially 
  

   Pope 
  Pius 
  VI. 
  But 
  in 
  1931 
  the 
  Government 
  of 
  Italy 
  undertook 
  the 
  

   reclamation 
  of 
  this 
  age-old 
  problem 
  of 
  Rome 
  and 
  Italy 
  with 
  military 
  

   thoroughness 
  as 
  for 
  a 
  battle. 
  Within 
  2 
  months 
  the 
  swamps 
  had 
  been 
  

   drained 
  and 
  within 
  6 
  months 
  farms 
  had 
  been 
  laid 
  out, 
  concrete 
  farm- 
  

   houses 
  built, 
  and 
  the 
  town 
  of 
  Littoria 
  fitted 
  out 
  with 
  all 
  necessary 
  

   public 
  buildings, 
  centers, 
  and 
  residences 
  as 
  a 
  service 
  town 
  to 
  more 
  

   than 
  100,000 
  acres 
  of 
  reclaimed 
  land 
  (pi. 
  3, 
  fig. 
  2). 
  In 
  this 
  time, 
  

   260 
  miles 
  of 
  roads 
  were 
  built, 
  nearly 
  6 
  million 
  cubic 
  yards 
  of 
  dirt 
  

   were 
  moved 
  to 
  make 
  1,097 
  miles 
  of 
  canals. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  a 
  splendid 
  achievement; 
  7 
  years 
  prior 
  to 
  our 
  visit 
  (1938) 
  

   this 
  thriving 
  area 
  was 
  a 
  deadly 
  marsh, 
  impassable 
  to 
  man 
  and 
  beast 
  

   alike; 
  only 
  water 
  buffalo 
  were 
  able 
  to 
  survive. 
  During 
  this 
  period 
  

   approximately 
  363 
  million 
  dollars 
  were 
  spent 
  by 
  Italy 
  on 
  public 
  

   works. 
  An 
  additional 
  amount 
  of 
  about 
  124 
  million 
  dollars 
  was 
  

   granted 
  to 
  private 
  landed 
  properties 
  for 
  reclamation 
  work. 
  More 
  

   than 
  a 
  third 
  of 
  the 
  total 
  expenditure 
  was 
  made 
  to 
  assist 
  private 
  land- 
  

   owners 
  to 
  prepare 
  their 
  lands 
  for 
  subdivision 
  and 
  colonization. 
  

  

  The 
  justification 
  of 
  such 
  great 
  expenditures 
  is 
  the 
  fundamental 
  

   importance 
  of 
  the 
  nation's 
  welfare, 
  looking 
  to 
  self-sufficiency 
  in 
  agri- 
  

   cultural 
  crops. 
  Investments 
  of 
  public 
  funds 
  for 
  making 
  lands 
  pro- 
  

   ductive 
  for 
  settlement 
  of 
  farm 
  families 
  also 
  served 
  the 
  purposes 
  of 
  

   giving 
  employment 
  to 
  thousands 
  of 
  unemployed, 
  of 
  settling 
  people 
  

   from 
  congested 
  industrial 
  centers 
  on 
  the 
  land, 
  and 
  of 
  increasing 
  the 
  

   productive 
  wealth 
  of 
  the 
  nation 
  as 
  a 
  whole. 
  

  

  CONTROL 
  OF 
  TORRENTIAL 
  FLOODS 
  

  

  Population 
  pressures 
  in 
  Italy 
  of 
  836 
  and 
  in 
  France 
  of 
  547 
  per 
  square 
  

   mile 
  of 
  cultivated 
  area 
  have 
  exceeded 
  the 
  carrying 
  capacities 
  of 
  the 
  

   flat 
  lands 
  and 
  have 
  pushed 
  the 
  cultivation 
  line 
  up 
  slopes 
  in 
  the 
  Alps 
  

  

  