understand that drought is not a curse, and that he is not called on to 
fight droughts, but to fight his ignorance about how to cope with them, 
which ought to be, sooner or later, enlightenable, provided that Science 
is afforded an opportunity of helping him. 
Apart from the fact that no such book as I have proposed is avail- 
‘able at present, the need of such a book is not that nothing at all is 
known about drought-problems, but that so much’ of what is known 
is to be found in back numbers of newspapers or in scientific journals, 
where it is not accessible to those who want it, and could make use 
of it; and that these contributions to knowledge deal only with par- 
ticular aspects or cases, and not comprehensively with the subject in its 
entirety. What is wanted, as I think, is a self-contained handbook of 
the complementary, theoretical side of drought problems. I give a 
sketch of the ground that, in my opinion, might be covered by it, just as 
something for consideration and discussion. 
SyNopsis. 
Nature and Man, Nature’s Insurgent Son—Disturbance of Nature’s 
Balance by Settlement, and what that involves; the reckless or careless 
introduction of undesirable Aliens, like Rabbits, Prickly Pear, &.; and 
the reason why they flourish in their new environment—Droughts: their 
_ History and Periodicity in Australia—Droughts in South Africa, and 
Sub-tropical South America—Their Cause and Meaning in the Economy 
of Nature: Nature’s two ways of resting or sweetening the land, and, 
at the same time, of clearing up, putting things in order, and striking 
a balance, by (1) severe cold, or (2) more or less intense aridity— 
The year after a drought, the bumper year for crops and herbage, and 
the scientific explanation of the resting and sweetening of. the land— 
The Lessons to be learned from the high level and low-level Flood- 
plains of the Hawkesbury River Valley, as in evidence at Richmond; 
and from the desiccated Lake Eyre Bas*n of Central Australia, called 
by Gregory “ The Dead Heart of Australia”—The Adaptations of the 
indigenous Plants and Animals to arid conditions, and the lessons to 
be learned from them—the Man on the Land in the Northern Hemis- 
phere, with an annually recurring hard winter, in harmony with his 
environment—The Man on the Land in the Southern Hemisphere, with 
mild winters but periodical droughts, whose periodicity cannot at pre- 
sent be calculated, not yet wholly in harmony with its environment 
'-—The need to conserve the Fertility of the Soil, and the indigenous 
grasses and fodder-plants—Disturbance of the Soil-organisms, and of 
their long-standing association with the indigenous Plants, especially the 
Acacias and Eucalypts; the Bionomics of Soil-organisms in the arid 
portions of the Continent; and the risks from strong; dry, westerly 
winds, in the absence of a covering snow, when the natural covering 
of the ground has been removed—Lessons from Droughts; and the 
Application of the Lessons—Bibliography, as a guide to more detailec 
consideration of special subjects—Index, &c. i 
Happily there have been and are men on the land in Australia who 
have learned that droughts are not a curse, though rabbits and prickly 
pear may be; that the land needs a periodical rest or sweetening; that 
it is the dry climate and the high-class nutritive native grasses and 
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