Text extracted from opening pages of book: CLIMATIC CHANGES THEIR NATURE AND CAUSES BY ELLSWOETH HTINTINaTON Beseareh Associate in G-eography in Yale University AND STEPHEN SARGENT VISHEE Associate Professor of Geology in Indiana University NEW HAVEN YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MEQFORD: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXXII COPYRIGHT 1922 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS Published 1922. THE THEODOBE L. GLASGOW MEMORIAL PUBLICATION FUND THE present volume is the fifth work published by the Yale University Press on the Theodore L. Glasgow Memorial Publica tion Fund. This foundation was established September 17, 1918, by an anonymous gift to Yale University in memory of Flight Sub-Lieutenant Theodore L. Glasgow, E. N. He was born in Montreal, Canada, and was educated at the University of Toronto Schools and at the Boyal Military College, Kingston. In August, 1916, he entered the Royal Naval Air Service and in July, 1917, went to France with the Tenth Squadron attached to the Twenty second Wing of the Eoyal Flying Corps. A month later, August 19, 1917, he was killed in action on the Ypres front. CITY ( MO.) PUBLIC 6809950 TO THOMAS CHBOWDEB CHAMBEKLIN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO * WHOSE CLEAB AND MASTEBLY DISCUSSION OF THE GKEAT PBOBL. EMS OF TEBBESTBIAL EVOLUTION HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST INSPIBING FACTOBS IN THE WBITING OF THIS BOOK THEKE is a toy, which I have heard, and I would not have it given over, but waited' upon a little. They say it is ob served in the Low Countries ( I know not in what part), that every-five and thirty years the same kind and suit of years and weathers comes about again; as great frosts, great wet, great droughts, warm winters, summers with little heat, andthe, like, and they call it the prime; it is a thing I do the rather mention, because, computing back wards, I have found some concurrence. FEANCIS BACON u PREFACE NITY is perhaps the keynote of modern science. This means unity in time, for the present is but the outgrowth of the past, and the future of the present. It means unity of process, for there seems to be no sharp dividing line between organic and inorganic, physical and mental, mental and spiritual And the unity of modern science means also a growing tendency toward cooperation, so that by working together scientists dis cover much that would else have remained hid. This book illustrates the modern trend toward unity in all of these ways. First, it is a companion volume to Earth and Sim. That volume is a discussion of the causes of weather, but a consideration of the weather of the present almost inevitably leads to a study of the climate of the past. Hence the two books were written originally as one, and were only separated from considerations of convenience. Second, the unity of nature is so great that when a subject such as climatic changes is considered, it is almost impossible to avoid other subjects, such as the movements of the earth's crust. Hence this book not only discusses climatic changes, but considers the causes of earthquakes and attempts to show how climatic changes may be related to great geological revolutions in the form, location, and altitude of the lands. Thus the book has a direct bearing on all the main physical factors which have molded the evolution of organic life, includ ing man. Xll PREFACE In the third place, this volume illustrates the unity of modern science because it is preeminently acooperative product Not only have the two authors shared in its production, but several of the Yale Faculty have also cooperated. From the geological standpoint, Professor Charles Schuchert has read the entire manuscript in its final form as well as parts at various stages. He has helped not only by criticisms, suggestions, and facts, but by paragraphs ready for the printer. In the same way in the domain of physics, Professor Leigh Page has re peatedly taken time to assist, and either in writing or by word of mouth has contributed many pages. In astron omy, the same cordia