The Popular Science Monthly 1908-07: Vol 73

Page 1

THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. JULY, 1908 SOIL WASTAGE By Proressor THOMAS CHROWDER CHAMBERLIN, Pu.D., LL.D., Sc.D. UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO HE invitation to give thought to the conservation of resources that affect our future, appeals to me with almost personal force, for my studies of the past decade have led to the belief that the era of the earth’s future habitability is vastly greater than we have been wont to think. We have grown up in the belief that the earth sprang from chaos at the opening of our era and is plunging on to catastrophe or to a final winter in the near future. Quite at variance with this, I have come to believe that the earth arose from a regenerative process and that it offers a fair prospect of fitness for habitation for tens of millions of years to come. If this be true, it is eminently fit that our race should give a due measure of thought to the ulterior effects of its actions. It is one of the latest conceptions of geology that climatic condi- tions have been of the same order as at present from early eras, in the large view, in spite of some notable variations, and that this uni- formity is the result of a profound regulative system which has sufficed to keep the temperatures of the earth’s surface and the constitution of the earth’s atmosphere within the narrow range congenial to life for many millions of years. As a result: there has been no break in the continuity of land life since it came into being eras ago. It appears, ‘ further, that the sources of supply of the vital elements are still ade- quate, and are likely to be so for long ages, that the regulative system is still in effective control, and that a vast future of habitability may fairly be predicted, subject only to some contingencies of collision or disturbing approach of celestial bodies. Whether you are prepared to accept so large a view of the habitable future or not, I trust you will Cel TY) P cas, BV ent

Page 2

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 3

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 4

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 5

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 6

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 7

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 8

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 9

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 10

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 11

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 12

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 13

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 14

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 15

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 16

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 17

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 18

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 19

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 20

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 21

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 22

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 23

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 24

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 25

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 26

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 27

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 28

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 29

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 30

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 31

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 32

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 33

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 34

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 35

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 36

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 37

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 38

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 39

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 40

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 41

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 42

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 43

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 44

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 45

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 46

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 47

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 48

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 49

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 50

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 51

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 52

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 53

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 54

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 55

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 56

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 57

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 58

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 59

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 60

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 61

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 62

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 63

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 64

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 65

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 66

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 67

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 68

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 69

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 70

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 71

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 72

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 73

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 74

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 75

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 76

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 77

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 78

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 79

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 80

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 81

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 82

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 83

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 84

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 85

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 86

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 87

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 88

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 89

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 90

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 91

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.

Page 92

This page's text is still being fetched. See the page, or reload in a moment.