THE NEW EARTH 



United States have declined at least ninety- 

 three millions since 1873. The report, appear- 

 ing in September, 1905, written by Consul 

 Williams, of Cardiff, Wales, making note of 

 the fact that this is the American farmer's 

 opportunity, says, incidentally, as to the causes 

 of the decline: 



"The world is eating up its sheep. Its flocks 

 have been declining for three decades, and 

 that decline has become perceptible in so 

 many countries that it is regarded as the most 

 remarkable agricultural movement of our times. 

 A number of independent causes have coope- 

 rated to bring about this result. The first to 

 be noted is the modern method of studying 

 Hebrew history and literature. This has 

 brought to light the fact of the preponderance 

 of mutton in the meat diet of the Hebrews 

 from the earliest times, a preponderance that 

 accounts, in part, for the character of their 

 civilization, and their persistence as a race. 

 The dread of tuberculosis and pleuro- pneu- 

 monia in some countries, and of trichina in 

 others, has led to the substitution of mutton 

 for other meats by several classes, especially 

 those influenced by the lurid accounts in the 



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