Protection Forests. 121 
Until the beginning of the present century the pro- 
tective function of the forest had played no role in the 
arguments for state interference, but just about the be- 
ginning of the century cries were heard from France that 
owing to the reckless devastation of the Vosges and Jura 
Alps by cutting, by fires and overgrazing, the brooks had 
become torrents and the valleys were inundated and cov- 
ered by the debris and silt of the torrents. A new aspect 
of the results of forest devastation began to be recog- 
nized, which found excellent expression in a memoir by 
Moreau de Jonnés (Brussels, 1825), on the question 
“What changes does denudation effect on the physical 
condition of the country.” This being translated by 
Wiedenmann, was widely spread, being interestingly 
written, although not well founded on facts of natural 
history and physical laws. Nevertheless, sufficient ex- 
perience as regards the effect of denudation in mountain- 
ous countries had also accumulated in southwest Ger- 
many and in the Austrian Alps, and the necessity of 
protective legislation was recognized. This necessity 
first found practical expression in the Bavarian law 
of 1852, in Prussia in 1875 and Wiirtemberg in 1879. 
But a really proper basis for formulating a policy or 
argument for protective legislation outside of the moun- 
tainous country is still absent, although for a number 
of years attempts have been made to secure such basis. 
8. Forestry Science and Literature.* 
The habit of writing encyclopedic volumes, which the 
Cameralists and learned hunters had inaugurated in the 
*The necessarily brief statements which are made under this heading pre- 
suppose knowledge of the technical detai!s to which they refer. In this short 
history it was possible only to sketch rapidly the develop of the sci in 
terms familiar to the professional man. 
