THE BALANCE OF NATURE. 173 



4. By a marked change in the drainage of such 

 region. 



5. By a marked change in the number and se- 

 verity of floods and droughts in such regions. 



6. By a marked change in the salubrity of the 

 regions through which the rivers flow which rise 

 in such districts. 



7. By a marked change in the number and 

 severity of hail-storms in such regions. 



8. By an increase in the damage to the agricul- 

 tural districts arising from the appearance of early 

 frosts in or near such regions. 



The preservation of the forests, in at least certain 

 localities, is, therefore, imperatively demanded in 

 order to maintain the general balance of nature, 

 and to insure on the earth a place for the com- 

 fortable habitation of man. 



George P. Marsh, in his work entitled " The 

 Earth as Modified by Human Action/' * says on 

 page 8 : 



" The revolutions of the seasons, with their alternations of 

 temperature and of length of day and night, the climates of 

 different zones, and the general conditions and movements of 



* Reprinted, by permission, from " The Earth as Modified 

 by Human Action," by George P. Marsh. New York : Scrib- 

 ner, Armstrong & Co., No. 654 Broadway, 1874. Pp. 656. 



16* 



