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518
LIFE.
ly existing in the flora of our globe. The colossal trees in our forests are
becoming more and more rare, and when they fall they are not replaced.
In the United States and in Canada, the noble trees which astonished our
first colonists have for the most part been felled ; and in more recent days,
before the finest forests in the counties of Mariposa and Calaveras became national property, the Californian pioneers had cut down, in order
to convert into planks, many gigantic sequoias which had attained a
height of three hundred and eighty, three hundred and ninety, and even
four hundred feet. This is perhaps an irreparable loss, for nature requires
hundreds and thousands of years before she can supply the sap nece^f ary
for these enormous trees, and mankind, too impatient for proper enjoyment of it, and too indifferent to the fate of future generations, does not
as yet sufficiently feel the extent of its own duration, so as to induce it
to take thought for the careful preservation of the beauty of its forests.
The extension of the agricultural domain, and the requirements of navigation and manufactures, also result in reducing the number of trees of
an average size. At the present time they are diminishing in number at
the rate of millions every year. Even the toy manufactories, and the
chemical match factories, to say nothing of the ship-building yards, require whole forests for their annual consumption. To make up for this
in all the countries ofthe world, herbaceous plants multiply, and are covering areas of increasing extent. One might almost fancy that man was
jealous of nature, and sought to dwindle down all the products of the
earth so. that they should not surpass his own level. Even now, as the
natural consequence of the struggle going on between the various vegetable species, those which are common to several countries tend to smother gradually the more feeble species which try to hold their ground in
some more limited district. * Added to this, man also contributes toward
the destruction of the original flora by increasing the field of growth of
the invading plants. His migrations enable him to reclaim fresh tracts
of land, and he sows them with the seed of civilized countries; in his
course of cultivation, he assails the 'mountains, marshes, and savannas,
where the local species have taken refuge; by his pathways, his roads,
and his canals, he spreads far and wide, on a soil perhaps ill adapted for
them, the plants which surround his dwellings and grow in his fields.
Not only in more or less extensive portions of one and the same zone do
the vegetable species which are parasites of man increase their field of
growth, but, at the very extremities of the world, they keep on annexing
newly colonized lands. Just as European plants encroach on the indigenous species, so do the imported animals, delighting in their new climate, drive victoriously before them the representatives of the former local fauna. The pig, again become wild, has taken possession of the forests of New Zealand. The rat which once frequented the two islands
has been pushed out by the brown rat escaped from English ships, and
the conqueror in the strife has himself become extinct in his turn before
the European mus tribe. The New Zealand fly carefully avoids his Eu-
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000575 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | 518 LIFE. ly existing in the flora of our globe. The colossal trees in our forests are becoming more and more rare, and when they fall they are not replaced. In the United States and in Canada, the noble trees which astonished our first colonists have for the most part been felled ; and in more recent days, before the finest forests in the counties of Mariposa and Calaveras became national property, the Californian pioneers had cut down, in order to convert into planks, many gigantic sequoias which had attained a height of three hundred and eighty, three hundred and ninety, and even four hundred feet. This is perhaps an irreparable loss, for nature requires hundreds and thousands of years before she can supply the sap nece^f ary for these enormous trees, and mankind, too impatient for proper enjoyment of it, and too indifferent to the fate of future generations, does not as yet sufficiently feel the extent of its own duration, so as to induce it to take thought for the careful preservation of the beauty of its forests. The extension of the agricultural domain, and the requirements of navigation and manufactures, also result in reducing the number of trees of an average size. At the present time they are diminishing in number at the rate of millions every year. Even the toy manufactories, and the chemical match factories, to say nothing of the ship-building yards, require whole forests for their annual consumption. To make up for this in all the countries ofthe world, herbaceous plants multiply, and are covering areas of increasing extent. One might almost fancy that man was jealous of nature, and sought to dwindle down all the products of the earth so. that they should not surpass his own level. Even now, as the natural consequence of the struggle going on between the various vegetable species, those which are common to several countries tend to smother gradually the more feeble species which try to hold their ground in some more limited district. * Added to this, man also contributes toward the destruction of the original flora by increasing the field of growth of the invading plants. His migrations enable him to reclaim fresh tracts of land, and he sows them with the seed of civilized countries; in his course of cultivation, he assails the 'mountains, marshes, and savannas, where the local species have taken refuge; by his pathways, his roads, and his canals, he spreads far and wide, on a soil perhaps ill adapted for them, the plants which surround his dwellings and grow in his fields. Not only in more or less extensive portions of one and the same zone do the vegetable species which are parasites of man increase their field of growth, but, at the very extremities of the world, they keep on annexing newly colonized lands. Just as European plants encroach on the indigenous species, so do the imported animals, delighting in their new climate, drive victoriously before them the representatives of the former local fauna. The pig, again become wild, has taken possession of the forests of New Zealand. The rat which once frequented the two islands has been pushed out by the brown rat escaped from English ships, and the conqueror in the strife has himself become extinct in his turn before the European mus tribe. The New Zealand fly carefully avoids his Eu- |
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