ENVIRONMENT AND CIVILIZATION 211 



seen the civilization of Egypt seriously threatened 

 by a horde of cattle-keeping (Baggara) Arabs, 

 and, since the beginning of our era, nomadic 

 forces, whether Tartar, Arab or Teutonic, have 

 uprooted every civilization then existing except 

 that of China and Japan. Living in open pas- 

 tures, nomadic races may become so indifferent 

 to the beauty of foliage that when they settle 

 down, whether in Turkey or in China, they reck- 

 lessly destroy all the trees of the country. But 

 in return they infuse into it a spirit of active 

 vitality which may initiate some changes in 

 popular habits, may effloresce in such transient 

 glories as those of Khubla Khan or of the 

 Mogul emperors of Delhi. Agricultural and 

 pastoral conditions may, then, be regarded as, in 

 some ways, complementary factors in human 

 progress : the former has provided the mechanism, 

 the latter the energy, for advance. 







Modern achievements in scientific discovery, and 

 in increasing the comfort and variety of life, stand 

 like a tower amongst the monuments of human 

 history : the difficult and tortuous path of pro- 

 gress seems to have been suddenly smoothed and 

 straightened. This rapid development may be 

 ascribed in great measure to the conditions of 

 modern environment. Facilities for travel, for 

 commerce, and for the dissemination of news have 

 drawn all the civilized nations of the world into a 

 partnership of enterprise and research, and have 

 enabled each of them to profit immediately by the 

 discoveries of others. Nor is this all. They have 

 quickened curiosity and the desire for novelty, 

 and have broken down the barriers which the con- 

 servative spirit opposes to reform. This trans- 

 formation of mental habit, once begun, progresses 



