Famine: Its Effects and Relief

ruled Egypt, and after Joseph interpreted his dreams, " famine was over all the face of the earth." The old empires of the Euphrates, Assyrian and Babylonian, were not free from the scourge. Imperial Rome itself suffered from famine. Parts of Europe in the Middle Ages were frequently famine-stricken. At more recent dates, China, especially in the north, has experienced famines. Famines in India have been familiar to living men; especially in 1865, in 1868-69, in 1874, and 1877. Even the United Kingdom has not been free from famine during the present century, as the Irish famine of 1845-46 testifies. Now we have distressing accounts of the famine in Russia and in India. Mr. Cornelius Walford, in the Statistical Journal, vol. xli, mentions no less than 350 historical famines. Famines, like pestilences, have been attributed to many causes. In tropical and semi-tropical countries the most frequent cause is undoubtedly drought, although this does not agree with what Mr. F. C. Dan vers states in his Report on Famines in India. Mr. Dan vers says: " The most general cause has not been failure of the rains." But all the famines and scarcity of food I have known in India certainly originated in failure of the rains. Another cause of famine in such almost rainless countries