THE OCEAN AS THE RESERVOIR OF HEALTH 11 



beneath the surface, keeping the water sweet indeed, 

 but not sufficient to accumulate deodorizing energy 

 for the benefit of the land. It is a striking proof, if 

 any were needed, of the maleficent influence of the 

 land that the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, 

 with but few exceptions, should be so unhealthy, and 

 that a peculiarly virulent type of malaria should have 

 received the name of Malta fever. Think of it, malaria 

 generated in a lonely rocky islet without swamps or 

 dank undergrowth or jungle, only set in an almost 

 tideless sea that is powerless to aerate its superheated 

 and densely populated streets. And in saying this I 

 am not at all forgetful of the charms of the Biviera. 

 I only point out what is an undeniable fact, that where 

 the free motions of wind and current over and in the 

 sea are hindered from any cause whatever, the adjacent 

 land irnist suffer because of the lack of those ministra- 

 tions, which are peculiarly the province of the sea. 



Before going any farther south, however, we must 

 consider the other great function of the ocean with 

 regard to the land, a function not merely necessary 

 for health, but absolutely indispensable to life at all, 

 I mean the providing of the earth with fresh water. 

 Here a host of minor influences must be remembered 

 that make for the health and prosperity of a nation, 

 according as the happy mean in the continual supply 

 of fresh water is reached. But the first thing to 

 remember is that all the fresh water in the world is 

 distilled from the sea. In this day of universal educa- 

 tion, there are few people in civilized countries who do 

 not know of the simple chemical process whereby fresh 

 water is obtained from salt water, but there are almost 

 as few who give a thought to the mighty fact that all 



