﻿SOME 
  ASPECTS 
  OF 
  THE 
  USE 
  OF 
  THE 
  ANNUAL 
  RINGS 
  

   OF 
  TKEES 
  IN 
  CLIMATIC 
  STUDY. 
  1 
  

  

  By 
  Prof. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Dougl&ss, 
  

   University 
  of 
  Arizona. 
  

  

  I. 
  AFFILIATIONS. 
  

  

  Nature 
  is 
  a 
  book 
  of 
  many 
  pages 
  and 
  each 
  page 
  tells 
  a 
  fascinating 
  

   story 
  to 
  him 
  who 
  learns 
  her 
  language. 
  Our 
  fertile 
  valleys 
  and 
  

   craggy 
  mountains 
  recite 
  an 
  epic 
  poem 
  of 
  geologic 
  conflicts. 
  The 
  

   starry 
  sky 
  reveals 
  gigantic 
  suns 
  and 
  space 
  and 
  time 
  without 
  end. 
  

   The 
  human 
  body 
  tells 
  a 
  story 
  of 
  evolution, 
  of 
  competition 
  and 
  sur- 
  

   vival. 
  The 
  human 
  soul 
  by 
  its 
  scars 
  tells 
  of 
  man's 
  social 
  struggle. 
  

  

  The 
  forest 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  smaller 
  pages 
  in 
  nature's 
  book, 
  and 
  to 
  

   him 
  who 
  reads, 
  it 
  too 
  tells 
  a 
  long 
  and 
  vivid 
  story. 
  It 
  may 
  talk 
  in- 
  

   dustrially 
  in 
  terms 
  of 
  lumber 
  and 
  firewood. 
  It 
  may 
  demand 
  preser- 
  

   vation 
  physiographically 
  as 
  a 
  region 
  conserving 
  water 
  supply. 
  It 
  

   may 
  disclose 
  great 
  human 
  interests 
  ecologically 
  as 
  a 
  phase 
  of 
  plant 
  

   succession. 
  It 
  may 
  protest 
  loudly 
  against 
  its 
  fauna 
  and 
  parasites. 
  

   It 
  has 
  handed 
  down 
  judicial 
  decisions 
  in 
  disputed 
  matters 
  of 
  human 
  

   ownership. 
  It 
  speaks 
  everywhere 
  a 
  botanical 
  language, 
  for 
  in 
  the 
  

   trees 
  we 
  have 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  wonderful 
  and 
  complex 
  products 
  of 
  

   the 
  vegetable 
  kingdom. 
  

  

  The 
  trees 
  composing 
  the 
  forest 
  rejoice 
  and 
  lament 
  with 
  its 
  suc- 
  

   cesses 
  and 
  failures 
  and 
  carry 
  year 
  by 
  year 
  something 
  of 
  its 
  story 
  

   in 
  their 
  annual 
  rings. 
  The 
  study 
  of 
  their 
  manner 
  of 
  telling 
  the 
  

   story 
  takes 
  us 
  deeply 
  into 
  questions 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  and 
  the 
  indi- 
  

   vidual, 
  to 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  pests, 
  to 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  all 
  kinds 
  of 
  injury, 
  

   especially 
  of 
  fire 
  so 
  often 
  started 
  by 
  lightning, 
  to 
  the 
  closeness 
  of 
  

   grouping 
  of 
  the 
  trees, 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  nearness 
  and 
  density 
  of 
  competing 
  

   vegetation. 
  The 
  particular 
  form 
  of 
  environment 
  which 
  interests 
  

   us 
  here, 
  however, 
  is 
  climate 
  with 
  all 
  its 
  general 
  and 
  special 
  weather 
  

   conditions. 
  Climate 
  is 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  meteorology, 
  and 
  the 
  data 
  which 
  

   we 
  use 
  are 
  obtained 
  largely 
  from 
  the 
  Weather 
  Bureau. 
  Much 
  

  

  1 
  Address 
  of 
  the 
  president 
  of 
  the 
  southwestern 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  American 
  Association 
  

   for 
  the 
  Advancement 
  of 
  Science, 
  Tucson, 
  Ariz., 
  Jan. 
  26, 
  1922. 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  

   from 
  the 
  Scientific 
  Monthly, 
  Vol 
  XV, 
  No. 
  1, 
  July, 
  1922. 
  

  

  223 
  

  

  