296 Spain. 
afterwards changed into a monthly, which continued for 
some time under subventions from the government. 
SPAIN. 
“Poor Spain” is the expression which comes to the 
lips of everybody who contemplates the economic con- 
ditions of this once so powerful nation, almost the ruler 
of the world. Once, under the beneficent dominion of 
the Saracens, a paradise where, as a Roman author puts 
it, “Nil otiosum, nihil sterile in Hispania,” it has be- 
come almost a desert through neglect, indolence, igno- 
rance, false pride, lack of communal spirit, despotism 
of church, and misrule by corrupt bureaucracy. 
With the exception of a narrow belt along the sea- 
shore, the whole of the Iberian peninsula is a vast high 
mesa, plateau or tableland, 1,500 to 3,000 feet above sea 
level, traversed by lofty mountain chains, or sierras, five 
or six in number, running parallel to each other, mainly 
in a westerly and southwesterly direction. These divide 
the plateau into as many plains, treeless, and for the 
most part, arid, exposed to cold blasts in winter, and 
burning up in summer. They are frequently subjected 
to severe droughts, which sometimes have lasted for 
months, bringing desolation to country and people. The 
Revista de Montes, a semi-official journal, established in 1877, is the best source. 
El Manuel de Legislacion y Administracion Forestal, by Hicarto Ruiz, and 
Novisima Legislacion Forestal, by Det Campo, 1901, elaborate the com- 
plicated legislation up to 1804. 
Dicionaro Hispano-A mericano, 1893, contains an article (montes) on the 
administrative practice of the forest laws. 
A Year in Spain, by a young American (SLIDELL) 1829, gives an excellent ac- 
count of physical conditions of the country and character of the people at that 
time. 
Das moderne Geistesleben in Spanien, 1888, and Kulturgeschichtliche und 
Wirtschaftspolitische Betrachtungen, 1901, by Gustav Dierks, details charac- 
ter of institutions and people. 
