1 
THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
. VoL. Xx. — SEPTEMBER, 1876. — No. 9. 
ARE WE DRYING UP? 
BY PROF. J. D. WHITNEY. 
FE object of the present communication is to bring together 
some of the more striking facts in regard to the desiccation 
of the earth’s surface, —or at least of a considerable portion of 
it, — which has taken place in the most recent geological period, 
and to suggest the inquiry, whether we have any proof that this 
desiccation has been and is continued into the historical period ; 
in short, Are we drying up ? 
All questions relating to changes, or supposed changes, of cli- 
mate during the historical period are of the greatest possible 
interest. Much has been written on this subject, and yet but 
little has been definitely established. There is a prevailing pop- 
war impression that the countries around the Mediterranean are 
drier than they were two or three thousand years ago, and that 
this change is due in part, if not wholly, to the cutting down 
of the forests which are assumed to have once existed there. 
Yet, when this matter comes to be investigated, it would appear 
that there is little if any evidence either that there has been any 
such wholesale stripping of the wooded lands, or that there has 
been any considerable change in the climate of that region. The 
question of the influences of forests on the amount of the rain- 
fall has been ably and carefully examined by Mr. G. P. Marsh, 
and his results are thus summed up: ‘ The scientific reputa- 
on of many writers who have maintained that precipitation 
been diminished in particular localities by the destruction 
of the forests or augmented by planting them, has led the publie 
to suppose that these assertions rested on sufficient proof. We 
“not affirm that in none of these cases did such proof exist, 
but I am not aware that it has ever been produced.” 1 It ap- 
* The Earth as Modified by Human Action. New York, 1874. Page 196. 
OF ree ee a OREO 
Copyright, A. S. PACKARD, JR. 1876. 
