840 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. XL 



in 1513, and which multiplied so fast that in seventy-five years 

 they existed by thousands. Browsing on the young trees and 

 shrubs, they rapidly brought about the destruction of the vegeta- 

 tion which protected the steep slopes. With the disappearance 

 of the undergrowth, began the washing of the soil by tropical rains 

 and the destruction of the forests. In 1709 the governor reported 

 that the timber was rapidly disappearing and that the goats should 

 be destroyed if the forests were to be preserved. This advice 

 was not heeded, and only a centuiy later, in 1810, another governor 

 reported the total destruction of the forests by the goats. 



"The Santa Barbara Islands, and Santa Catalina off the coast 

 of southern California, and the island of Guadalupe, off the Lower 

 California coast, are utilized as ranges for goats. All these islands 

 are dry and more or less covered with brush, but arborescent 

 vegetation is comparatively scarce. The goats practically run 

 wild, antl already exist in considerable numbers. As yet the goals 

 liave not been on the islands long enough to cause any serious 

 effects on the vegetation, and they may never bring al)out the ruiii 

 which has been wrought on St. Helena. But it is scarcely {)()ssible 

 for the islands to l)e grazed by goats for an indefinite length of 

 time without suH'ering serious damage." 



(lonts. \u^^^■vyvv, d.> n.>t nKvays enjoy a monopoly of the food 



cited above, unrestricted browsing and rapid multiplication of the 

 goats have taken f)lace under artificial conditions of protection of 



that in certain regions under natural conditions the Carnivora 

 themselves may liave become extinct through epidemics or other 

 causes, thus promoting the unrestricted multiplication of the 

 smaller browsing animals so fatal to the vegetation and to the 

 ,H,nnul distrilMitioii of food siipplv of a conntrv. The period 

 di.rinu uhi.I. ti.e.e . Iian^^e. I,a^e tak<-i. pia.r ii. ,1,,. Orient i. a 



ApphcutioH fn I In Anirnntn OlH/nrrnr. Thus we see that 

 the i!itro<luction of new forms ot' dissimUur fcrders may completely 

 disturb the balance of Nature and entirely alter the character 

 and amount of food supply or even of water supply and of com- 



