186 INFLUENCE OF THE FOREST ON PRECIPITATION. 
two places, several trees had each furnished a small stream of 
water, and these, uniting, had run upon the road, so that trav¬ 
ellers had to pass through the mud ; although, as I said, every¬ 
where else the ground was perfectly dry. Moreover, the col¬ 
lected moisture was not sufficient to drop directly from the 
leaves, but in every case it ran down the branches and trunk 
to the ground. Farther on we found a grove, and at the foot 
of each tree, on the north side, was a lump of ice, the water 
having frozen as it reached the ground. This is a most strik¬ 
ing illustration of the acknowledged influence of trees in col¬ 
lecting moisture; and one cannot for a moment doubt, that 
the parched regions which commence at Sivas, and extend in 
one direction to the Persian Gulf, and in another to the Red 
Sea, were once a fertile garden, teeming with a prosperous 
population, before the forests which covered the hillsides were 
cut down—before the cedar and the fir tree were rooted up 
from the sides of Lebanon. 
“ As we now descended the northern side of the watershed, 
we passed through the grove of walnut, oak, and black mul¬ 
berry trees, which shade the village of Oktab, whose houses, 
cattle, and ruddy children were indicative of prosperity.” 
Coultas thus argues: “ The ocean, winds, and woods may 
be regarded as the several parts of a grand distillatory appa¬ 
ratus. The sea is the boiler in which vapor is raised by the 
solar heat, the winds are the guiding tubes which carry the 
vapor with them to the forests where a lower temperature pre¬ 
vails. This naturally condenses the vapor, and showers of rain 
are thus distilled from the cloud masses which float in the 
atmosphere, by the woods beneath them.” * 
Sir John F. W. Herschel enumerates among “ the influences 
unfavorable to rain,” “ absence of vegetation in warm climates, 
and especially of trees. This is, no doubt,” continues he, u one 
of the reasons of the extreme aridity of Spain. The hatred of 
a Spaniard toward a tree is proverbial. Many districts in 
France have been materially injured by denudation (Earl of 
* What may be learned from a Tree , p. 117. 
