Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-01-05
THE SC0URCE llF FAMINES.
Gradually Disappearing in
Civilized Countries.
The Oause Of Faminas' anl Why TheJ
wiz Soon Be Abolished

that which occurred III Egypt under
Joseph's ministry. Ills welI-known
mode Of meeting II, bg holding stores
in reserve during abundant years, has
since been followed Id divers coun-
tries; in France. for dIstance. at the
beginning Of the present century, and
at Naples. under the reign OF Charles
the Third, in the middle Of the last
century. The conditions Of agricultu-
raj produce In Egypt were. and still
are. exceptional,
Everything there Isl dependent. not
on local rains, for there are none, but
on the rains which fall FAR away.in the
equatorial regions where the Nile
takes its source, without receiving a
single afiluent after the seventeenth
degree Of latitude. Those rains deter
mine the innndation Of the soil Of
Egypt-the unique. bat indispensable,
condition of q harvest.
In Joseph's time, and thousands Of
years before him, Egypt was decima-
ted by famine whenever the Nile
failed to rise high enough to irrigate
the soil and cover 1t with fertilizing
moisture and mud.
Neighboring countries. the coasts Of
Ph@nicia Asia Minof. Greece, Sicily,
and Northern Africa did indeed
escape the scourge. thanixs to the local
rains that fell there. They were able,
frequently, to supply the needs of
Egypt. But in those days maritime
| commerce did net exist. Egypt,
blockaded on two SIDES by deserts.
could only count on the wise admins
tration of her own resources. At a
later period maritime commerce res
cued Egypt from dangers Of starvation.
in abundant years she enriched herself
by the export of superauous grain; in
years of insufficient inandation she
was able to purchase grain from
abroad and receive it st the port Of
Alexandria.
In Egypt of the preseEt day. at no
distant future. when posts of obser-
walton shall have been Established in
Abyssinnia and beyond It on the course
of the Nile and its aflinants, connect
ed by telegraphic wire with Cairo,
the Egyptians viii know. several
months beforehand. ana within foot
or two. the hight the sslle viii attain
at each inundation. and. can take their
measures accordingly.
In other countries, fsanines depend
on the rains which eithar do not fall,
or fall in excess. in eacis distinct local
ity. This evil is more severely felt in
countries where man lie monophanous
in his diet-where he $751; aims life ex-
clusively. or almost so, On one single
article of food; as in 1sldia and parts
of China, onrice, and qusse rec emily, in
q less degree. in IrelanE on potatoes.
If rain fails. rice. tbs thirstiest Of
grain-giving plants. fails also: If rain
is In excess in quantity and continu-
ance, the destroying fungus spreads
and che potato rots.
Periods Of drought EVIDENTLY follow
some general law, depending on the
upper currents Of the atmosphere.
They constitute . gsand problem
which belongs to equat6Sial meteorolo-
gy rather than to anything that can
be observed 1t the Poles. Mr.. FAYE
consequently holds thatSs is the for
mer which ought to Be Closely studied.
/ whereas stations wlthinsthe Polar cir
cles. besides being cruelEy painful and
dangerous. can furnish 8slly very indi-
rect contributions to meteorological
science.
An attempt has been maae to con-
meet dry and rainy periods with the
maxima and minima Of sspots on the
sun. But nothing has lsen proved to
bring conviction. The flhal conclusion
is that there Is no correspondence he
tween the two sets Of phenomena. and
that ii would be ii vain ii predict in
undations. thoughts Or fsmines from
the presence 81 absence aE spots o. the