37 



fulness and become weakened by old age must conic down to make 

 room for those younger and more vigorous. Their forms must 

 then be reduced to dust, to supply the new growth with nourish- 

 ment. Dust unto dust, — it is the law. In a forest of firs, pines 

 and cedars on the Pacific slope the trees have nearly terminated 

 the allotted period of their existence. Some of them have already 

 fallen, letting in light and air among the young trees which are 

 springing up to take their place. An army of insects attacks the 

 remaining trees, defoliating them and letting in the light and lieat 

 of the burning summer sun. This still further stimulates the 

 growth of the young trees, which are coming up partly shaded by 

 the trunks and limbs of the forest giants ; but its fierce rays only 

 serve to weaken the old trees, as they stand naked under the 

 cloudless sky. The sap pauses in its flow, and they are now in a 

 condition to invite attacks from the bark beetles {Scoh/tidoi) . A 

 host of these appear, boring into the inner bark, where they cut 

 their channels through the liber and cambium and along the sur- 

 face of the wood beneath. The diseased trees ai"e now doomed. 

 Helpless, they are attacked by a host of borers and other wood- 

 eating insects. Death from a thousand wounds ensues. The in- 

 sects channel, cut and powder the substance of the trees, wood-rot 

 attacks the trunks, limbs fall and tops crash down. Some night a 

 great wind comes down through a mountain gap and rushes through 

 the forest. Giant trunks are uprooted and thrown against others 

 still standing, shattering all. Great trees tottering to their fall 

 crash against others already fallen. Bending with mighty groan 

 they break short off from the stump with a fearful crash, and their 

 tops sweep through the air with a moaning shriek, which is lost in 

 the thunder of their fall. Down they go like a row of blocks be- 

 fore the awful wind. Their downfall shakes the earth, the fowls 

 of the air hide their heads in fright, the beasts of the forest crouch 

 closer in their dens or slink away in terror. When morning comes 

 the old forest is no more, but in its place a tangled windfall lies, 

 where one can walk for miles on fallen trunks without touching 

 foot to the ground. Amid this mass of trunks the bear will find 

 his den. Here he will tear away the decaying bark with his claws 

 to get at the ants burrowing beneath. Here the swilal berries and 

 the salmon berries will grow and the skunk cabbage will flourish 

 in the swales. Here is good food for the bear. The bear is not 

 only a forest planter but also an agent of destruction to the 

 ruined forest and a cultivator of the soil for the new growth. 

 In this work the wild hog, fox, marmot, elk and other animals 

 have a share. Here also is the home of the woodpeckers, for 



