Dkcember 1, 1900.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



209 



tricked out in wondrous plumes, the Phyllosoma group 

 may challenge all the Crustacea of the world to surpass 

 them iu their virgin grace, and defy the glassworkers 

 of Venice and Muraiio to emulate the engaging tender- 

 ness of their exquisite fabric. 



THE EVOLUTION OF SIMPLE SOCIETIES. 



By Professor Alfred C. Haudon, m.a., sc.d., f.k.s. 



VI.— THE REVOLUTION EFFECTED BY CORN. 



In a straight line from Acre, after passing the Jordan, 

 and the two ranges of mountains that enclose it, tiic 

 traveller enters upon an immense plain, which extends 

 to the Euphrates and Tigris. Only that portion of this 

 plain that is nearest to the Jordan is cultivated, this is 

 the counti-y of the Hauran ; beyond this and as far as 

 the Euphrates it is merely a vast steppe. 



The country of the Hauran, being immediately con- 

 tiguous to the steppe, its population, like the B;ishkirs, 

 are peasants evolved from p;ustors, and it h;is from time 

 immemorial been influenced by the great current of 

 pastors traversing the steppes of Syria and Arabia. 



This country is not easily cultivated, for it is not easily 

 irrigable. Syria and the neighbourng districts ai'e sub- 

 ject to a continuous dryness, owing to the prevalent 

 winds blowing from the deserts of Sahara on the one 

 hand, and those of Central Asia on the other. During 

 the whole of the summer the sky is cloudless. Asia Minor, 

 with an area five times that of France, has a volume of 

 river-water scaixely exceeding that of France. No 

 mountains ai'e raised above the snow limit; scarcely has 

 snow fallen than it is evaporated in the pure air or 

 melting it gives rise to devastating torrents. The suow, 

 unlike that of the Alps or Pyrenees, is not locked up 

 to be slowly melted for the irrigation of the low-lj-ing 

 lands in spring and summei-, but it is completely lost for 

 cultivation. 



How is it that under such unfavourable conditions 

 these people have been constrained to transform them- 

 selves into agriculturists? 



This region was formerly the sole route between the 

 extreme East and the Mediterranean. All the merchan- 

 dise exchanged between China, India, Persia, Assyria, 

 and Arabia on the one side, and the peoples of the basin 

 of the Mediterranean on the other, had to pass by here — 

 it was a very cross-roads of peoples. Very numerous towns 

 arose not only on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, 

 like Babylon and Ninevah, but throughout Syria and 

 Phttnicia, like Tyre and Sidon, and even in the middle 

 of the desert, like Palmyra. For commei'ce can only 

 be carried on in urban centres. 



The development of towns by the agglomeration of 

 the population necessitated a more intense production 

 than that of the steppe. This was the constraint, the 

 irresistible interest, which forced these people to agri- 

 culture. They were able to accomplish this evolution 

 despite the obstacle of the dryness of the climate, thanks 

 to the financial resources supplied by commerce. A 

 very costly system of irrigation was created to supply 

 the natural deficiency of water; the extent of the ruins 

 of these aqueducts to-day astonish travellers. When 

 commerce declined in this part of the world, or rather 

 when it took another direction, there were no longer 

 the necessary means for keeping up this complicated 

 system of irrigation, and the town and fields were ruined, 

 and the steppe recovered the greater part of the soil. 

 In regions where irrigation was more easy cultivation 



was maintained, but with great difficulty and in a pre- 

 carious manner, by utilizing the ancient canals. Such 

 was the case of the Jlaurau. 



The chief town of the Hauran is Busra or Bosira, 

 the Bosra of the Bible ; as the capital of Roman Arabia 

 it acquired great importance in the Grreeo-Roman period. 

 The decadence of its commerce coiumenccd with the 

 Musulman invasion of Syria. Still nourishing at the 

 time of the Khalifs, it was successively ruined in the 

 112th century by a volcanic outburst, in the 1-1 Ih centui*y 

 by the conquerors who ravaged Asia, and later by 

 periodic incursions of nomad Arabs. To-day tho ruins 

 of Busra occupy an extent of 123.^ acres, and supjiort 

 a population of 300 Musulman inhabitants. 



The cultivation of corn results in a social revolution. 

 Corn, next to milk, is the most perfect food-stuH, but the 

 nutriment is contained in a smaller volume. This 

 concentration of nutriment permits of great accumular 

 tions of people, as it gives in a small space tho means 

 of feeding a considerable population, whilst men nour- 

 ished on milk arc obliged to disperse themselves over 

 vast spaces. 



Two very important characteristics of corn arc that 

 it allows — (1) Great fac-ility for storage. There is no com- 

 parison between the preservation of corn and that of 

 milk, fish, or game. Thus the pastor, the fisher, and 

 the hunter have by no means the same facility for 

 creating riches and for accumulating tho proceeds of 

 their special industry. No food is so readily stored 

 as com, witness the famous granaries of Egypt, China, 

 Italy, etc. This facility for accumulation permits jarovi- 

 dcut people to possess themselves of considerable re- 

 sources, since they are not obliged to consume their 

 harvest within a short period. They can thus capitalise 

 their pi'oducts. (2) Great facility for exchange. Com 

 not only preserves easily, but it is infinitely divisible 

 and travels well. The provident can utilise it for 

 exchange, and by commerce can become rich. It is worth 

 while to consider the immense effect of corn in history, 

 Egypt having regular harvests, though situated between 

 (wo deserts. The growing power of Russia and the 

 Odessa com market, and the enormous cornfields of 

 North America. 



The cultivation of corn necessitates a much longer 

 and more difficult labour than that of garden produce. 

 Wheat and maize especially require good soil and 

 manure; care must be taken to select the best time for 

 harvesting, lest the corn should get too ripe, and the 

 weather must be carefully watched. The harvest must 

 be got in rapidly, consequently outside help must be 

 called in. AH these difficulties and complications 

 necessitate foresight, skill, and promptitude. 



Corn also develops and complicates methods of fabri- 

 cation and transport. The product, like rice, is not 

 usually consumed in the state in which it is gathered. 

 First the grain has to be winnowed. This is not a 

 matter of small importance, and according as it is well 

 or badly done so will be a corresponding difference in 

 tlie return: It is a very laborious process. The four 

 chief methods are:— (1) Threshing with a flail; (2) 

 trampling by horses; (3) husking by pressure of a wheel 

 drawn by cattle or horses; (4) the threshing machine. 

 The third is the system employed by the Hauran. The 

 family described by Le Play employed not less than ten 

 pairs of oxen, as much for threshing as for plougliing; 

 1192 days' work of men and animals were occui)ied in 

 ploughing, and .552 in threshing. 



Com has to be ground to flour. The heavy labour of 

 the hand-mill everywhere falls naturally to the lot of 



