i2 4 FORESTS AND MANKIND 



but have been driven back by more powerful neighbors, into 

 the protecting shelter of the forests. 



Forests from the beginning have affected man socially and 

 spiritually. The very existence of trees has exerted a profound 

 influence on every human being and on his surroundings. Al- 

 most without exception these influences of the forest have made 

 for the greater comfort, security, and spiritual advancement of 

 the human race. They have provided him with game, hidden 

 him from his enemies, protected the pure sources of his streams, 

 and sheltered him from an often pitiless sun. They were the 

 abode of many of his Gods. 



And aside from the unchallenged effects that forests have 

 had on the peoples of the world, and on their development, 

 there exists a still unsettled controversy regarding the role 

 played by forests in modifying the world itself. The effect of 

 forests on rainfall, for example, is a much fought over subject 

 and to this day it has never been definitely and scientifically 

 proven that cutting the forests of a country is followed by a 

 decrease in rainfall. There is, however, good ground for be- 

 lieving that a forest has the same effect on the winds that blow 

 over it as a body of water. For the wind absorbs at least as 

 much moisture from a square mile of forest in passing over 

 it as from a square mile of water. It would seem likely, then, 

 that winds gathering moisture after blowing across forested 

 areas would deposit their burden in the form of rainfall over 

 localities where without forests no rain might occur. Some stu- 

 dents of the subject say that forests cause a difference of over 

 ten per cent in the rainfall of a locality, but so many other 

 factors enter here that these statements are far from certain. 



But many forest influences are closely proven. We know be- 



