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Show LI3GI3NDS CAUSE ERRORS IN GEOGRAPHY. 4. 44-4-4- 4-i 4-4- --4- -- - -f It is strange that many legends which n generation ngo were accepted -f s ns true but which have long slnco been disproved by geographers, -f should still bo nccepted by the general public, nnd even Included In -f ninny geogrnphlc text books. Mr. Henry Gannett, In a recent article of -f the llulletln of tho American Geographical Society, enumerates a num- s bcr of these errors nnd shows wherein they nro at fault. -f t- It Is a persistent Idea that the presence or absence of forests has nn -f Influence upon the nmount of rainfall. The nrld nnd desert regions of -f tho world, more particularly the shores of tho Mediterranean sen, have -f Leon cited ns the result of man's wanton destruction of foiests. In thin - c.ise however, the nhsence of foiests Is not the cause but the result of f the rient deseit. Tho geographic nature of tho Mediterranean region, -f the conllgurntlon of the land nnd watei, nnd the prevailing winds nro of -f such nature as to permit only of it light rainfall Thoso conditions havo existed for many thousands, nnd perhaps millions of enrs, and from -f Ihe nature of the mountains, cliffs and canyons of the region It Is uppar- cnt that they hnve been evolved In a dry rather than In a moist climate A second widespread en or Is that the Hoods of our rivers have re- s tcnlly been much grcnter nnd more frequent than In former enis, nlso -t -f duo to instruction of tho forests The cutting away ot fort sts Is usually, -f howovei, followed by n thick growth of bushes and underbrush, which holds tho water ns effectively. Ml. Onnnett cites the case of the Ohio rlvtr as it proof that ihe floods aio not moro frequent In recent jenrs, -f This liver hus bun gauged continuously, and tho gauglngs show very ' -f little change, whatever chungo has taken place In the forest areas of -f -f Its bnsln. Another error Is tho citing of tho existence of floods ns a proof that -f f tho coast has been sinking These gorges are partially filled by tho -f tea, nnd it has been argued th it they must necessarily have been cut s f when they wero nbove the sea levil. On tho coast "of Alaska we now sv have similar Hoods in tho process of formation by glaciers which at -t t their loner ends nre often hundreds of feet beneath the surface of tho watei . -f sVsVsVsVsVsV4---f-ft-fsVsV-t- -fSvTf-r-f-r-f-f---t--f- |