28 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 
forests, give good reason for the fear of irreparable injury to the commerce 
of the important towns on the upper waters of that river, unless measures 
are taken to prevent the expansion of ‘ —— which have already 
been carried beyond the limits of a wise economy.” 
In our vast Indian Empire, the Government, until quite recently, per- 
mitted a wholesale destruction of the forests, but has now begun to open its 
eyes to the disastrous effects produced, and has appointed forest conserva- 
tors, whose duties are to see that the trees cut down are replaced by others, 
as the consequences of the reckless destruction of the Indian forests by 
demands for railroad and other uses, have already made themselves felt by 
the greater frequency of seasons of drought and famine, with all their 
attendant miseries ; and with such data as are accessible in late reports, it 
cannot be doubted that these calamities are chiefly due to the denudation of 
the forests. 
It is believed, however, that with a general scheme of forest conserva- 
tion, by which the annual growth might be made to balance, as near as 
may be, the annual consumption, these evils would be greatly mitigated, if 
not removed entirely. 
During the last half-century, great attention has been paid, both in 
France and Germany, to the art of ** Forestry "—an art which comprises 
an extensive range of knowledge of various sciences, amongst which botany, 
chemistry, geology, and vegetable physiology, take the first rank. The area 
of the French State forests is put down at 8,180,000 acres, to which may 
be added 5,850,000 acres belonging to ** Communes,” corporations, hospi- 
tals, and other publie establishments, and the whole of these forests are 
under the management of the French administration of Forests. In the 
** Vosges" the destruction had gone so far that the humidity had diminished, 
while the soil had become more arid and inundations more frequent. In 
the Department of the ** Gard” it did not rain in 1837 for more than nine 
months, and the supply from wells was most seriously diminished. At 
‘“ Berjiers" it was reported that the vast forest, which once sheltered that 
place, having been destroyed, the loss of the olive crop was the immediate 
consequence. Violent storms and torrents of rain certainly fell from time 
to time, but these did more harm than good, as the water ran off the land 
without penetrating into it. Such has been the result, in France, of the 
destruction of a great extent of her forests; but the regulations at present 
in force for their conservation and ‘‘ reboisement’’ are of the most stringent 
nature. 
In Prussia proper, out of 85,000,000 of “ hectares,”* 8,000,000 are 
classed as forests, out of which nearly 4,000,000 are private forests ; in 
* A “hectare” is equal to about 24 English acres. 
