126 PLANTS AND ANIMALS. [CHAP. 



Of such men we have plenty in our midst, and their 

 work may be seen in the free and open spaces which 

 now adjoin most towns ; the restoration of them to 

 the people having been brought about only by years 

 of ceaseless activity and continued struggles. Such 

 men deserve to be honoured by their fellows, and 

 doubtless posterity will hold them as distinguished 

 as the winner of his country's battles. 



Man by his greed his desire to turn even the 

 trees and fields to gold, by cutting down the woods 

 and forests without planting other trees in their 

 stead has done incalculable damage, and in other 

 parts of the world the destruction is still being ruth- 

 lessly prosecuted, and the result is a serious altera- 

 tion of climate. But this is not all. By cutting 

 down our forests, and thus decreasing our rain-fall, 

 we are initiating a whole series of changes. First, 

 we destroy a number of species of plants that cannot 

 live in a dry climate, and with these go a number 

 of insects which depend upon those plants exclu- 

 sively for their food. The altered conditions, too, 

 may be favourable to other species of insects which 

 prey upon other plants perfectly able to endure 

 the climatic change ; but the greater number and 

 increased vigour of their insect-enemies may have 

 the effect of seriously diminishing their numbers. 

 Again, the changes in the insect fauna, effected by 

 the abolition of the forest, will probably have a 

 marked effect upon the birds of the district. So 

 intricately are animals and plants connected that, if 

 we interfere with a species, we cannot tell what 

 effects will ensue from such interference. The mere 



