Rachel Carsons Silent spring
Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring
Silent Spring Twenty-fifth Anniversary edition by Rachel Carson Drawings by Lois and Louis Darling Foreword by Paul Brooks HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON
Chapter 1. A Fable for Tomorrow There was once a town in the heart of america where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of grains and hillsides of orchards where in spring white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields, In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings
Chapter 1. A Fable for Tomorrow There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of grains and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields, In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines. Then foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of the fall mornings
Along the roads laurel, viburnum and alder, great ferns and wildflowers delighted the traveler's eye through much of the year. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty, where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow. The countryside was in fact, famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and fall people travel from great distances to observe them others came to fish the streams which flowed clear and cold out of the hills and contained shady pools where trout lay. So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses, sank their wells, and built their barns
Along the roads, laurel, viburnum and alder, great ferns and wildflowers delighted the traveler’s eye through much of the year. Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty, where countless birds came to feed on the berries and on the seed heads of the dried weeds rising above the snow. The countryside was, in fact, famous for the abundance and variety of its bird life, and when the flood of migrants was pouring through in spring and fall people travel from great distances to observe them. Others came to fish the streams, which flowed clear and cold out of the hills and contained shady pools where trout lay. So it had been from the days many years ago when the first settlers raised their houses, sank their wells, and built their barns
Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies had swept the flocks of chickens the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere is a shadow of death The farmers spoke much of illness among their families. In the town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained death not only among adults but also among children, who would be stricken suddenly while at play and die within a few hours
Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies had swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere is a shadow of death. The farmers spoke much of illness among their families. In the town the doctors had become more and more puzzled by new kinds of sickness appearing among their patients. There had been several sudden and unexplained death, not only among adults but also among children, who would be stricken suddenly while at play and die within a few hours