Interaction between residential

greenness and air pollution mortality:

analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal
Healthy Longevity Survey John S Ji
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Interaction between residential greenness and air pollution

mortality: analysis of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy
Longevity Survey
John S Ji, Anna Zhu, Yuebin Lv, Xiaoming Shi

Summary
Background Both air pollution and green space have been shown to affect health. We aimed to assess whether Lancet Planet Health 2020;
greenness protects against air pollution-related mortality. 4: e107–15
Environmental Research
Center, Duke Kunshan
Methods We used data from the 2008 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We calculated
University, Kunshan, Jiangsu,
contemporaneous normalised difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the 500 m radius around each participant’s China (J S Ji ScD, A Zhu MSc);
residence. Fine particulate matter (PM2·5) concentration was calculated using 3-year average concentrations in Nicholas School of the
1 km × 1 km grid resolution. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the effects of NDVI, PM2·5, and Environment, Duke University,
Durham, NC, USA (J S Ji);
their interaction on all-cause mortality, adjusted for a range of covariates.
National Institute of
Environmental Health, Chinese
Findings The cohort contained 12 873 participants, totalling 47 884 person-years. There were 7426 deaths between Center for Disease Control and
2008 and 2014. The mean contemporaneous NDVI was 0·42 (SD 0·21), and the mean 3-year average PM2·5 was Prevention, Beijing, China
(Y Lv MSc, Prof X Shi PhD);
49·63 μg/m³ (13·72). In the fully adjusted model, the mortality hazard ratio for each 0·1-unit decrease in
and Center for Global Health,
contemporaneous NDVI was 1·08 (95% CI 1·03–1·13), each 10 μg/m³ increase in PM2·5 was 1·13 (1·09–1·18), and the School of Public Health,
interaction term was 1·01 (1·00–1·02) with a p value of 0·027. We observed non-linear associations in our stratified Nanjing Medical University,
analyses: people living in urban areas were more likely to benefit from greenness, and people living in rural areas Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
(Prof X Shi)
were more likely to be harmed by air pollution.
Correspondence to:
Dr John S Ji, Environmental
Interpretation Our study showed some indication of a synergistic effect of greenness and air pollution, suggesting Research Center, Duke Kunshan
that green space planning and air pollution control can jointly improve public health. University, Kunshan, Jiangsu
215316, China
john.ji@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Key R&D Program of China,
or
National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Prof Xiaoming Shi, National
Institute of Environmental
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Health, Chinese Center for
Disease Control and Prevention,
Introduction Beijing 102206, China
Air pollution in China is the fourth largest cause of death total population.8 In 2017, more than half of the shixm@chinacdc.cn

and disability combined, behind dietary risks, tobacco,
and high blood pressure.1 Although some efforts have
been aimed at reducing air pollution, fine particulate
matter (PM2·5) will likely remain a contributor to high
burdens of disease in the most populous country in the
world for the foreseeable future.2 Several large-scale
population studies in China have shown the relationship
between air pollution and premature mortality.3–6 A study
using the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey
(CLHLS) reported that each 10 µg/m³ increase in the past
3-year average PM2·5 was associated with 8% higher
mortality in adults aged 65 years or older, and extrapolated
that 1 765 820 premature deaths among Chinese older
adults were caused by ambient air pollution.7
Since 2008, China has made efforts towards controlling
air pollution. However, these efforts might be offset by
urbanisation, which has intensified the health effects of
air pollution as people move from rural areas with lower
ambient air pollution into urban areas with higher
ambient air pollution.2 By 2013, the number of rural-to-
urban migrants in China was 245 million, or a fifth of the
population lived in cities.9 Urban areas typically have
worse air quality, exposing residents to more air
pollution.10 Meanwhile, the urban sprawl has created
more built-up areas to serve the increasing urban
population, and green spaces are sometimes part of city
planning and infrastructure development.11,12 Average
green space coverage increased from 17% in 1989 to 37%
in 2009.11 In some areas (Shaanxi, Shanxi, Ningxia,
Henan, Shandong, Qinghai, and Gansu), the amount of
green space increased, whereas in others (northeast
Inner Mongolia, south Tibet, Jiangsu, and Shanghai), it
decreased due to agricultural reclamation, climate
change, and urbanisation.12
Greenness has generally been thought to improve
health, per the biophilia hypothesis.13 This hypothesis
proposed that seeking out connections with nature and
other forms of life is an innate human trait with an
underlying biological basis. Vegetation in nature has
been reported to confer health benefits, including
documentation of improved physical and mental health
and improved birth outcomes,14 increased convenience of

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Research in context
Evidence before this study
We searched PubMed and Google Scholar for studies on
residential greenness, air pollution, and mortality published in
English from database inception until Aug 1, 2019. We used a
combination of search terms, including “residential greenness”,
“greenness”, “green space”, “normalized difference vegetation
index”, “air pollution”, “fine particulate matter”, “PM2·5”, and
“mortality”. We found four studies exploring the effects of
residential greenness and air pollution on mortality. They were
done in high-income countries (Canada, the USA, Spain, and
South Korea); the study designs ranged from ecological to cohort.
These studies found greenness modulates air pollution in Canada,
Spain, and South Korea, but not in the USA. Additionally, the
direction of interaction varied between studies.
engaging in physical activities,15 and promotion of social
contact and reduced stress through social determinant of
health pathways.16 Concerning mortality, protective
effects for residential greenness have been shown in
cohorts in North America, Europe, and Asia.17–21 In China,
greater greenness was associated with lower mortality in
an older cohort.22
Greenness could interact with exposure to air
pollutants.23 Trees and vegetation are hypothesised to act
to clean the air of pollution, mitigating the health
effects. Airborne chemistry evidence is suggestive of
vegetation’s ability to intercept airborne particles or to
promote the uptake of gaseous pollutants through leaf
stomata on the plant surface.24 Increasing green space
could yield a positive return on investment relative to
the cost when taking health into account in cost–benefit
analyses. Thus, the effect of residential greenness and
air pollution on mortality is of particular interest, but
the published literature is not clear on their connection.
A study in Massachusetts, USA, of 179 986 adults with a
mean age of 80 years reported no consistent interaction
between PM2·5 and NDVI on cardiovascular mortality;
greenness attenuated some of the effects of PM2·5 on
cardiovascular mortality, but only in the communities
with low socioeconomic status.25 A study in Canada of
2·4 million adults aged 25–89 years showed that the
effect estimates of PM2·5 on non-accidental mortality
decreased as greenness increased.26 A study of seven
metropolitan cities in South Korea observed that the
effects of PM10 on non-accidental mortality were smaller
in less green areas, whereas the effects of PM10 on
cardiovascular-related mortality were smaller in greener
areas.27 A study of 4·4 million residents from 2148 small
areas in Spain found that the interaction between PM2·5
and greenness and all-cause mortality differed by urban
or rural residence. In rural areas, the effects of PM2·5 on
mortality were stronger in less green areas, whereas in
urban areas, the effects of PM2·5 on mortality were
stronger in greener areas.28 No study has been done in a
e108
Added value of this study
Our study found that there was an interaction between
residential greenness and air pollution and mortality in a large
prospective cohort. Our study used a national cohort of adults
aged 65 years and older, whose vulnerability to air pollution
and residential greenness probably differs from other age
groups. To our knowledge, this was the first study of this kind
done in a non-high-income country.
Implications of all the available evidence
Our findings suggest that greenness and air pollution have a
synergistic effect, which implies that green space planning and
air pollution control can jointly improve public health.
developing country. We, therefore, aimed to assess the
interactive effect of residential greenness and air
pollution using a longitudinal cohort of Chinese older
adults who reside throughout the country.
Methods
Study design and participants
We used data from the 2008 wave of CLHLS, a prospective
cohort study on the determinants of healthy longevity.
The CLHLS applied a multistage, stratified cluster
sampling design to recruit participants from 22 of the
31 provinces in China. 631 cities and counties were
randomly selected, representing about 85% of the
Chinese population. This study started with a focus on
centenarians, matched with octogenarian, nonagenarian,
and 65–79 year olds.29 The survey recruited individuals
aged 80 years or older in 1998 and 2000; participants aged
65–79 years were included from 2002. We excluded
participants lost to follow-up in the 2011 survey, with
missing or invalid death dates, living in regions where
greenness could not be calculated, with missing PM2·5
values, and younger than 65 years. For the 2008 wave, the
survival status was assessed in follow-up surveys done in
2011 and 2014. The investigators collected information on
various determinants of health, including demographic
and socioeconomic characteristics, lifestyle, physical
capacity, cognitive function, and psychological status.
More details on sampling design and data quality can be
found elsewhere.29
CLHLS was approved by the Institutional Review
Board, Duke University (Pro00062871), and the
Biomedical Ethics Committee, Peking University
(IRB00001052–13074). All participants provided written,
informed consent.
Procedures
We used remote sensing to calculate normalised
difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the 500 m radius
around participants’ residential addresses. We extracted
www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020

longitude and latitude for each residential address. Then,
the NDVI values at the corresponding coordinates for
residential addresses were generated. NDVI is the ratio
of the difference between the near-infrared region and
red visible reflectance to the sum of these two measures,
ranging from −1·0 to 1·0. Negative NDVI values are
often thought of as blue space or water, whereas larger
values indicate denser green vegetation.18,30 Values of 0·1
and below reflect barren areas of rock, sand, or snow;
values of 0·2 to 0·4 represent shrub and grassland;
higher values indicate temperate and tropical
rainforests.31
We measured NDVI values from the Moderate-
Resolution Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MODIS) in the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Terra
Satellite.32 MODIS has a temporal resolution of 16 days
and varying spatial resolution up to 500 m. Evidence has
shown that 0·25 miles (about 400 m) is an optimum
radius size to measure accessible greenness in residential
neighbourhoods.33 The 500 m radius is closest to
0·25 miles that can be obtained using MODIS.
Additionally, the 500 m radius is also widely used in
other residential greenness studies.17,34
We calculated two NDVI values every month for each
season, from 2008 to 2014. Furthermore, we computed
contemporaneous NDVI to reflect acute exposure to
greenness, which is the NDVI value at the residential
address of the participants at the time closest to an event.
NDVI values were estimated at death dates for deceased
participants, and the last interview dates for living
participants and participants lost to follow-up. If values
were equal, NDVI values from the earlier date were
included. For example, if a participant died on
April 15, 2010, the length between the death date and
April 7 and April 23, 2010 (dates for our extracted seasonal
NDVI), would be the same, so we would use their
contemporaneous NDVI values assessed on April 7, 2010.22
We used 0·1-unit increments of NDVI for the statistical
analysis.
On the basis of the participants’ residential address, the
ground-level concentrations of PM2·5 were calculated
from the Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group. It
combined the remote sensing from National Aeronautics
and Space Administration’s Moderate Resolution
Imaging Spectroradiometer, Multiangle Imaging
SpectroRadiometer, and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view
Sensor satellite instruments, vertical profiles derived
from the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model, and
calibration to ground-based observations of PM2·5 using
geographically weighted regression. Annual PM2·5
estimates were calculated from 1998 to 2014, at 1 km²
spatial resolution, which was the longest and the highest
resolution exposure dataset available.7 Additionally, our
estimations were highly consistent with out-of-sample
cross-validated concentrations from monitors (R²=0·81)
and another exposure dataset (R²=0·81) in China.7 A
previous study7 found that 3-year average PM2·5 before
www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020
Articles
death or the end of the study had the strongest association
with mortality. We used 3-year average PM2·5 to reflect air
pollution.
The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Mortality
information was obtained from the follow-up survey
done in 2011 and 2014.
Covariates were chosen as potential confounders
between exposures and outcomes or predictors of out­
comes. We assessed a range of demographic, behavioural,
and socioeconomic covariates, including age, sex,
ethnicity, marital status, geographical region, urban or
rural residence, education, main occupation before
60 years of age, financial support, social and leisure
activity, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and
physical activity. The percentages of missing values of
variables coding socioeconomic status and health
behaviour were relatively small, less than 0·3%. We
assigned the missing values to the mode for the
categorical variables for model convergence.
We calculated age on the basis of interview dates and
self-reported birth dates, which were verified by family
members, genealogical records, identification cards, and
household registration booklets. We divided ethnicity
into two categories: Han Chinese (the majority in China),
and ethnic minorities (Hui, Korean, Manchurian,
Mongolian, Yao, Zhuang, and others). We dichotomised
marital status to married and not married at the time of
interview (separated, divorced, or widowed or never
married). We categorised the participants into seven
geographical regions: central China (Henan, Hubei and
Hunan provinces), east China (Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi,
Jiangsu, Shandong, Shanghai, and Zhejiang provinces),
northeast China (Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning
provinces), north China (Hebei, Shanxi, and Tianjin
provinces), northwest China (Shaanxi province), south
China (Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan provinces),
and southwest China (Chongqing and Sichuan
provinces).
We divided residence into urban and rural areas on the
basis of governmental administrative categories.35 Given
that any educational attainment was scarce in 20th century
China, we dichotomised education to formal education
(≥1 year of schooling), and no formal education (<1 year of
schooling). We defined the main occupation before
60 years of age as professional work (professional and
technical personnel, government, and management), and
non-professional work (agriculture, fishing, service,
industry, and housework). Financial support was assessed
depending on whether the participants were financially
independent, with their own work and retirement wage,
or financially dependent on other family members.
We measured social and leisure activity index by taking
into consideration seven activities: gardening, personal
outdoor activities excluding exercise, raising poultry or
pets, reading, playing cards or mah-jong, listening to the
radio or watching TV, and participating in organised
social activities.36 Each included activity scored zero
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(never) or one (monthly or more frequent), resulting in

Total Contemporaneous 3-year average PM2.5
NDVI (μg/m³) an index that ranged from zero to seven. We evaluated
smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical
Total 12 873 0·42 (0·21) 49·63 (13·72)
activity through the questions of “do you smoke/drink/
Range ·· –0·14 to 0·96 9·21 to 109·37
exercise or not at present”.
Median (IQR) ·· 0·41 (0·25 to 0·59) 49·04 (39·86 to 59·34)
Age, years 87·01 (11·34) ·· ··
Statistical analysis
Age group
We used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate
65–79 years 3514 (27·3%) 0·45 (0·20) 48·84 (13·76)
mortality, adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, marital status,
80–89 years 3388 (26·3%) 0·43 (0·21) 48·79 (13·46)
geographical region, urban or rural residence, education,
90–99 years 3503 (27·2%) 0·40 (0·21) 49·53 (13·89)
main occupation before 60 years of age, financial status,
≥100 years 2468 (19·2%) 0·40 (0·22) 52·04 (13·47) social and leisure activity, smoking status, alcohol
Sex consumption, and physical activity. The survival time
Male 5488 (42·6%) 0·42 (0·21) 49·30 (13·83) was measured in months from the first interview date to
Female 7385 (57·4%) 0·42 (0·21) 49·87 (13·63) the recorded death date or last interview date up to 2014.
Ethnicity We created separate models to examine the independent
Han Chinese 12 015 (93·3%) 0·42 (0·21) 50·34 (13·72) effect of contemporaneous NDVI, PM2·5, and their
Ethnic minorities 858 (6·7%) 0·50 (0·22) 39·63 (9·02) interaction. The interaction term was calculated for each
Marital status 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI and each
Married 3987 (31·0%) 0·43 (0·21) 49·23 (13·69) 10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year average PM2·5 concentrations.
Not married 8886 (69·0%) 0·42 (0·21) 49·80 (13·73) Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs were reported to reflect
Residence the effect magnitude of NDVI and PM2·5 on mortality.
Urban area 1980 (15·4%) 0·25 (0·16) 54·14 (15·55) Stratified analyses were done by sex, urban or rural
Rural area 10 893 (84·6%) 0·45 (0·20) 48·81 (13·19) residence, financial status, smoking status, and physical
Main occupation before 60 years of age activity. We did a sensitivity analysis by using time-
Professional work 820 (6·4%) 0·36 (0·21) 51·23 (15·88) varying annual average PM2·5 and NDVI. We also did an
Non-professional work 12 053 (93·6%) 0·43 (0·21 49·52 (13·55) additional analysis using the survey-weighted regression
Education to obtain population-representative effect estimates. We
Formal education 4664 (36·2%) 0·41 (0·21) 48·90 (13·82) also plotted mortality trends by different tertiles of
No formal education 8209 (63·8%) 0·43 (0·21) 50·04 (13·64) contemporaneous NDVI and 3-year average PM2·5 to
Financial support explore non-linearity, by using three knots cubic splines.37
Financial independence 3022 (23·5%) 0·39 (0·21) 50·76 (14·21) We did additional analyses to verify the results. We
Financial dependence 9851 (76·5%) 0·43 (0·21) 49·28 (13·54) compared baseline characteristics between the included
Social and leisure activity index 2·03 (1·53) ·· ·· participants and all participants in the 2008 CLHLS to
Smoking status assess the sample’s representativeness. We used the
Yes 2309 (17·9%) 0·43 (0·21) 49·66 (12·74) survey-weighted regression to obtain population-
No 10 564 (82·1%) 0·42 (0·21) 49·62 (13·92)
representative effect estimates. We did a sensitivity analysis
Alcohol consumption
by using time-varying annual average PM2·5 and NDVI. We
Yes 2307 (17·9%) 0·43 (0·21) 49·64 (12·93)
adjusted the regression models by using more informative
covariates and by excluding negative contemporaneous
No 10 566 (82·1%) 0·42 (0·21) 49·62 (13·88)
NDVI and covariates with missing values. We compared
Physical activity
the effects of cumulative NDVI on the associations with
Yes 3425 (26·6%) 0·39 (0·21) 49·30 (14·39)
the contemporaneous NDVI. We also plotted the
No 9448 (73·4%) 0·43 (0·21) 49·74 (13·46)
geographical distribution of the included participants.
Region
We used STATA version 14.0 for all statistical analyses.
Central China 2192 (17·0%) 0·47 (0·21) 55·83 (11·04)
East China 4896 (38·0%) 0·42 (0·21) 54·00 (12·52)
Role of the funding source
Northeast China 858 (6·7%) 0·25 (0·17) 41·72 (10·45)
The funders of the study had no role in study design,
North China 515 (4·0%) 0·29 (0·16) 70·53 (19·68)
data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or
Northwest China 111 (0·9%) 0·40 (0·17) 47·61 (12·52)
writing of the report. The corresponding author had full
South China 2569 (20·0%) 0·46 (0·21) 37·90 (6·95)
access to all the data in the study and had final
Southwest China 1732 (13·5%) 0·43 (0·21) 44·63 (7·62) responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.
Data are n (%) or mean (SD) unless otherwise specified.

Table 1: Baseline characteristics Results

16 954 participants were interviewed in the 2008 CLHLS.
Our final sample consisted of 12 873 participants
See Online for appendix (appendix p 8), after exlusion of 2894 participants who

e110 www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020

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Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4

(contemporaneous (3-year average
NDVI) PM2.5)
Contemporaneous 3-year average Contemporaneous 3-year average Interaction p value
NDVI PM2.5 NDVI PM2.5
All participants 1·13 (1·12–1·15) 1·09 (1·07–1·12) 1·13 (1·12–1·14) 1·09 (1·07–1·12) 1·08 (1·03–1·13) 1·13 (1·09–1·18) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·027
Stratified by sex
Male (n=5488) 1·13 (1·11–1·15) 1·09 (1·05–1·13) 1·13 (1·11–1·15) 1·08 (1·05–1·12) 1·07 (1·00–1·14) 1·13 (1·06–1·20) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·10
Female (n=7385) 1·13 (1·12–1·15) 1·10 (1·07–1·14) 1·13 (1·12–1·15) 1·10 (1·07–1·14) 1·09 (1·03–1·15) 1·14 (1·08–1·20) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·16
Stratified by residence
Urban area (n=1980) 1·22 (1·17–1·28) 1·06 (1·00–1·12) 1·22 (1·17–1·28) 1·04 (0·98–1·10) 1·00 (0·84–1·19) 1·13 (1·03–1·24) 1·04 (1·01–1·07) 0·022
Rural area (n=10 893) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·10 (1·08–1·13) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·10 (1·08–1·13) 1·07 (1·02–1·12) 1·15 (1·10–1·21) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·024
Stratified by financial status
Financial independence (n=3022) 1·20 (1·15–1·24) 1·05 (0·99–1·12) 1·19 (1·15–1·24) 1·04 (0·98–1·11) 1·09 (0·96–1·23) 1·11 (1·00–1·23) 1·02 (1·00–1·05) 0·12
Financial dependence (n=9851) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·10 (1·08–1·13) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·10 (1·08–1·13) 1·07 (1·02–1·12) 1·14 (1·09–1·19) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·042
Stratified by smoking status
Yes (n=2309) 1·18 (1·15–1·22) 1·13 (1·06–1·21) 1·19 (1·15–1·22) 1·14 (1·06–1·22) 1·03 (0·91–1·17) 1·28 (1·13–1·45) 1·03 (1·00–1·05) 0·029
No (n=10 564) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·09 (1·06–1·11) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·09 (1·06–1·11) 1·09 (1·04–1·14) 1·12 (1·07–1·16) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·14
Stratified by physical activity
Exercise (n=3425) 1·16 (1·13–1·19) 1·14 (1·09–1·20) 1·16 (1·13–1·19) 1·13 (1·08–1·19) 1·09 (0·99–1·20) 1·18 (1·09–1·28) 1·01 (0·99–1·03) 0·21
Do not exercise (n=9448) 1·12 (1·11–1·14) 1·08 (1·06–1·11) 1·13 (1·11–1·14) 1·08 (1·06–1·11) 1·08 (1·03–1·13) 1·12 (1·07–1·17) 1·01 (1·00–1·02) 0·079
All models were adjusted for a number of covariates, including age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, urban or rural residence, education, main occupation before 60 years of age, financial support, social and leisure
activity, geographical region, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and physical activity at baseline. p values are for the test for interaction between each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI and each
10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year average PM2·5 in Model 4. Model 1 tested the main effect of each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI on mortality. Model 2 tested the main effect of each 10 μg/m³ increase in
3-year average PM2·5 on mortality. Model 3 tested the main effects of each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI and each 10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year average PM2·5 on mortality. Model 4 tested the interaction
between each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI and each 10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year average PM2·5 on mortality. NDVI= normalised difference vegetation index. PM2·5=fine particulate matter.

Table 2: Hazard ratios for each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI, each 10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year average PM2.5, and mortality

were lost to follow-up in the 2011 CLHLS, 88 with

Tertile 1 (range Tertile 2 (range Tertile 3 (range
missing or invalid death dates, 201 who lived in regions –0·14 to 0·30) 0·30 to 0·53) 0·53 to 0·96)
where greenness could not be calculated, 764 with
HR (95% CI) p value HR (95% CI) p value HR (95% CI) p value
missing PM2·5 values, and 134 who were younger than
65 years. Participants lost to follow-up did not Per 10 μg/m³ increase in 1·10 <0·0001 1·11 <0·0001 1·07 0·0030
3-year average PM2·5 (1·06–1·14) (1·07–1·16) (1·02–1·11)
significantly differ from our study population, except
By residence
that they were more likely to reside in urban areas
Urban area 1·04 0·20 1·12 0·17 0·80 0·12
(appendix pp 2–3). The mean age was 87·01 years
(0·98–1·11) (0·96–1·30) (0·61–1·06)
(SD 11·34), and 9359 (72·7%) were aged 80 years and
Rural area 1·12 <0·0001 1·12 <0·0001 1·07 0·0014
older (table 1). We had slightly more female participants (1·08–1·17) (1·08–1·17) (1·03–1·12)
(7385; 57·4%), and more people residing in rural areas
HR=hazard ratio. PM2·5=fine particulate matter. NDVI=normalised difference vegetation index.
(10 893; 84·6%; table 1). Participants living in areas with
more residential greenness were more likely to be Table 3: HRs for 3-year average PM2.5 and mortality under different tertiles of NDVI
ethnic minorities or from rural areas, have non-
professional work, not have formal education, and be
Tertile 1 (range 9–43) Tertile 2 (range 43–55) Tertile 3 (range 55–109)
financially dependent. The mean contemporaneous
NDVI was 0·42 (SD 0·21) and the mean 3-year PM2·5 HR (95% CI) p value HR (95% CI) p value HR (95% CI) p value
was 49·63 μg/m³ (13·72). Each 0·1-unit decrease in 1·12 <0·0001 1·08 <0·0001 1·20 <0·0001
Participants who were Han Chinese (non-ethnic contemporaneous NDVI (1·10–1·15) (1·05–1·10) (1·18–1·23)
minority), were living in urban areas, had professional By residence
work, did not have formal education, and who were Urban area 1·18 0·0003 1·17 <0·0001 1·33 <0·0001
(1·08–1·29) (1·09–1·26) (1·23–1·44)
financially independent tended to live in areas with more
Rural area 1·12 <0·0001 1·06 <0·0001 1·19 <0·0001
PM2·5. More urban areas had greater air pollution owing
(1·10–1·14) (1·03–1·08) (1·17–1·22)
to greater numbers of emissions sources, and less
HR=hazard ratio. NDVI=normalised difference vegetation index. PM2·5=fine particulate matter.
greenness owing to the impervious surfaces of city build-
up. Table 4: HRs for NDVI and mortality under different tertilesof 3-year average PM2·5
In the fully adjusted model (Model 4), the mortality HRs
for each 0·1-unit decrease in contemporaneous NDVI was

www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020 e111

 Articles

A A
4·5 HR 1·2 HR
95% CI 95% CI
4·0
1·0
3·5
3·0 0·8
HR with 95% CI

HR with 95% CI
2·5
0·6
2·0
1·5 0·4
1·0
0·2
0·5
0 0

B B
4·5 1·2
4·0
1·0
3·5
3·0 0·8
HR with 95% CI

HR with 95% CI
2·5
0·6
2·0
1·5 0·4
1·0
0·2
0·5
0 0

C C
4·5 1·2
4·0
1·0
3·5
3·0 0·8
HR with 95% CI

HR with 95% CI

2·5
0·6
2·0
1·5 0·4
1·0
0·2
0·5
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 0·2 0·4 0·6 0·8 1·0
3-year average PM2·5 (μg/m )
3
Contemporaneous NDVI

Figure 1: Association curve for 3-year average PM2·5 and mortality under
different tertiles of contemporaneous NDVI
(A) Tertile 1 of contemporaneous NDVI. (B) Tertile 2 of contemporaneous NDVI.
(C) Tertile 3 of contemporaneous NDVI. HR=hazard ratio. NDVI=normalised
difference vegetation index. PM2·5=fine particulate matter.
Figure 2: Association curves for contemporaneous NDVI and mortality under
different tertiles of 3-year average PM2·5
(A) Tertile 1 of 3-year average PM2·5. (B) Tertile 2 of 3-year average PM2·5.
(C) Tertile 3 of 3-year average PM2·5. HR=hazard ratio. NDVI=normalised
difference vegetation index. PM2·5=fine particulate matter.

1·08 (95% CI 1·03–1·13), each 10 μg/m³ increase in PM2·5
was 1·13 (1·09–1·18), and the interaction term was 1·01
(1·00–1·02, p=0·027; table 2). We did not find appreciable
differences in our effect estimates when incorporating
population-representative sampling weights (appendix
p 5). Additional sensitivity analysis also reported consistent
findings, except for cumulative NDVI (appendix pp 1, 4, 6,
7). In our stratified analysis, we saw some indications that
study participants residing in urban areas were more
likely to benefit from greenness, and people in rural areas
were more likely to be harmed by air pollution (table 3).
There was no effect modification by sex (table 2).
We compared air pollution mortality within different
tertiles of greenness; we did not find a monotonic trend
of higher or lower air pollution mortality (table 3). We
also did not find a monotonic trend in the effects of
residential greenness on mortality within different
tertiles of PM2·5 (table 4). These findings can also be seen
in the spline analysis (figures 1, 2).
Discussion
In this study, we found that greenness and air pollution
had significant effects on mortality, consistent with
previous studies. Our study showed a protective effect for

e112 www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020


greenness in China, a developing country, in line with
other cohort studies in developed countries: Australia,
Canada, Lithuania, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the
USA.17–19,22,34,38–41 In high-income countries, individuals
with better health outcomes tended to live in more
desirable areas with more greenness, increasing the
chance of residual confounding by socioeconomic status.
In contrast, the possible residual confounding in our
study is in the opposite direction, because the study
participants who reside in areas with more greenness
had lower socioeconomic status owing to China’s
urbanisation and economic development.9 Therefore,
our effect estimates might gravitate towards the null, and
finding an association between greenness and premature
mortality reinforces the strength of association between
residential greenness and health.
Air pollution contributes to premature mortality; the
effect estimate for mortality was 1·09 (HR) for each
10 μg/m³ increase in 3-year annual average PM2·5
(Model 2). Because our study population covers a wide
range of geographies in China, we could study the effect
in areas with varying degrees of eco­nomic development
and other regional characteristics. Generally, concen­
trations of PM2·5 tended to be higher in northern
provinces than in southern provinces (range
9·21 μg/m³–109·37 μg/m³), due to energy use in
industries and heating. The effect on mortality of PM2·5 is
different in areas of lower air pollution versus areas with
greater air pollution. We saw that individuals residing in
rural regions had more detrimental effects from air
pollution (HR 1·10, 95% CI 1·08–1·13) compared with
urban areas (1·06, 1·00–1·12). This finding indicates a
higher marginal effect dose-response relationship at
lower levels of air pollution, similar to the findings of
larger scales from the global burden of disease studies.3
Our study’s main contribution to the published
literature is the statistically significant interaction
between residential greenness and air pollution and
mortality, albeit with a small effect estimate. In our fully
adjusted model, individuals living in areas with more
greenness appear to be affected more by air pollution,
indicating a non-linear dose-response relationship for air
pollution on mortality. This small effect indicates that
increasing greenness and lowering air pollution might
have a synergistic effect on the health of elderly
populations, although the exact mechanism needs to be
elucidated. Green space and vegetation could filter out
air pollutants aerodynamically, or there could be in-vivo
biological interactions. In our model, when multiplying
the two exposure variables to create the interaction term,
0·1-unit decrease in NDVI and 10 μg/m³ increase in
PM2·5, the HR was 1·01 (p=0·027). This finding suggest
that decreasing air pollution and increasing contem­
poraneous greenness have a synergistic effect on
mortality. However, the effect size of the interaction
depends on exposure windows considered for greenness
and air pollution, because we did not find an association
www.thelancet.com/planetary-health Vol 4 March 2020
Articles
when using cumulative NDVI as the exposure of
residential greenness (appendix p 4). We did not find
a clear association between cumulative NDVI and
mortality, possibly owing to some residual bias, because
cumulative NDVI might reflect degree of urbanisation,
whereas contemporaneous NDVI indicates acute
exposure to greenness.22 Although older adults could be
more vulnerable to short-term exposure than long-term
exposure, further study is needed to explore the type of
greenness and its interaction with PM2·5 and mortality.
We did not observe monotonic trends in the effects of
PM2·5 on mortality within different amounts of exposure
to residential greenness, and this finding reinforces the
complex and unproven relationship between greenness
and air pollution on health outcomes. Other studies have
had mixed findings with no consensus on whether
greenness does indeed act to mediate air pollution-
related exposure pathways.25–28 Our findings were slightly
different from previous research. We found that air
pollution mortality was lowest in the greenest areas, but
only in rural areas, which also have greater greenness.
A certain amount of vegetation might be needed to
cleanse air pollution.42 The popularly proposed mechan­
isms include trees absorbing nitrogen oxides, ammonia,
sulphur dioxide, and ozone and filtering of particulates
by trapping them in their leaves and bark.42,43 Thus, the
effects might be stronger in rural areas with a greater
density of vegetation. Adding to the mechanistic
complexity, there might be differences in the sources,
composition, or oxidative potential of PM2·5, the structure
of green space, and the types of vegetation between
urban and rural areas, and among different areas. For
example, large-scale population-based studies have
shown that the health effects of green space differed by
different structures of green space.44,45 Structure
difference in PM2·5 and green space might be partly
contributing to the non-linear trends. Restricted by data
availability, we could not verify this hypothesis. Improved
exposure assessment capabilities will be needed to
further continue this research.
A strength of our study is that it is relatively large, and
one of the most comprehensive in the region, including
12 873 participants from 22 provinces in China. We had
detailed demographic and behavioural information,
allowing us to do stratified analyses by sex, smoking status,
and urban versus rural residence. This study had several
limitations. First, we were only able to get an overall area of
greenness coverage through NDVI, and we do not have
information on the specific type of vegetation. Second, we
lost 17·1% of participants to follow-up, and those living in
more urban areas were more likely to be lost. Third, our
mortality outcome did not include detailed information on
the specific cause of death, so we could not analyse
cardiovascular or pulmonary mortality, which are more
directly related to air pollution. Fourth, there might be
selection effects such as migration and neighbourhood
self-selection. However, we believe our study population is
e113
 Articles
highly stationary because of the advanced age and their
social benefits, which are linked to the hukou household
registration system.46 Neighbourhood self-selection could
be affected by individual and community socioeconomic
status. In China, we found that larger amounts of
greenness were associated with lower socioeconomic
status. Thus, neighbourhood self-selection is unlikely to
bias our analysis. Additionally, the resolution of MODIS
images could introduce some, albeit minor, non-
differential classification of greenness exposure, but there
is a consensus among previous research of using 500 m
radius for NDVI, as shown in meta-analyses.47 At the same
time, our PM2·5 data are of the highest resolution exposure
dataset available in China. Fifth, if we had better
measurement of physical activity beyond a self-reported
response to a single question, we would be able to use a
mediation analysis to study behavioural connections of
greenspace and air pollution. Finally, because our
participants were from 22 provinces in China, we included
the variable of geographical region to account for different
dietary and other behavioural differences. Regional
characteristics might have different effect sizes on the
associations. Cluster analysis by geographical regions,
with detailed vegetation type, is needed in future research.
In conclusion, we found that greenness and air
pollution interacted non-linearly with mortality. Our
study suggests that the effect of air pollution might be
one mechanism in which greenness can protect health.
However, relative to the main effect of air pollution and
greenness, the interactive effect size is relatively small.
Our finding provides evidence for urban planners, as
greenness can be a protective measure in places with
high population density and air pollution. Both national
and local policies have emphasised a balanced economic
development agenda that accounts for ecological
civilisation. Our findings of interactions in the effects of
greenness and air pollution can be used for both public
health stakeholders and development agencies. Our
stratified analysis showed that people living in urban
areas were more likely to benefit from greenness, and
people in rural areas are more likely to be harmed by air
pollution. Sex did not modify the effect, indicating that
greenness and air pollution affects women and men
equally. Further study of the type of vegetation and the
patch size of the green space is needed for a more precise
understanding of this relationship.
Contributors
JSJ and XS conceived and designed the study design. JSJ, AZ, and YL
did the statistical analysis. JSJ and AZ drafted the manuscript. XS helped
interpret data. All authors contributed to the interpretation of findings,
provided revisions to the manuscript, and approved the final
manuscript.
Declaration of interests
JSJ served as the Asia Editor of The Lancet in 2017. All other authors
declare no competing interests.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and
National Institutes of Health. The data analysed in this paper were
e114
provided by the CLHLS which has been jointly supported by National
Natural Sciences Foundation of China and the National Key R&D
Program of China.
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e115
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 LARGE HOUSES FOR SMALL TENANTS.

In Australia there is a bird—the Megapodius—that builds for its

family an enormous dwelling. It is not a large bird, being about the
size of our partridge, but it seems to have very lofty ideas. If a man
built a house in the same proportion to his size, as that of this bird is
to its size, his house would be twice as large as the Great Pyramid of
Egypt. It would be very inconvenient to have such residences as
these, and they would be very difficult to keep clean, to say nothing
of the great expense of building them. A man would have to call in
the aid of hundreds of workmen, and pay them well, and years would
be required to complete such a mansion, and a great many different
instruments would be called into use. Whereas two of these birds will
build their huge dwelling in a few weeks, with no tools but their own
beaks and claws, and with no expense whatever.
The Megapodius does not believe in gay clothes, and is always
dressed in plain and sombre brown. It is an intelligent, patient,
industrious, persevering little creature, as you will see from the way it
constructs its nest.
It begins by gathering together a mass of leaves, branches, and
plants. With these it spreads out on the ground, in the place it has
selected for its nest, a thick bed of a circular form. Upon this it heaps
up earth and stones, and packs them well together, continuing to
labor perseveringly until it raises a mound from eight to fourteen feet
high. Some of these mounds measure a hundred and fifty feet round
the base, and as much as twenty-four feet up the slope. A circular
opening is left in the center of this mound, and extends from the top
to the ground.
 NEST OF THE MEGAPODIUS.
In this opening herbs and leaves are heaped up; and, on this the
Megapodius places its eggs, eight in number, arranged in a circle, at
equal distances from each other, with the points downward.
After the female has performed this task of arranging the eggs,
both of the parent birds leave the nest, for they are of no use
whatever to the young birds after they are hatched. So you see this
great labor, in which they have shown so much skill is not for
themselves, but for their children.
The leaves and herbs, enclosed in this great mass of compact
earth, become so heated after a time that fermentation commences,
and this heat hatches the eggs. How does the Megapodius know
this? And how does it know what plants will produce poisonous
vapors, so that it never brings these to its nest?
 Most birds, you know, are born naked, or covered with a soft
down, and they have to be fed for several weeks until their feathers
grow, and they can be taught to fly. But the young Megapodius, we
are told by travelers, comes out of its shell fully provided with
feathers. They say that it throws off the hot leaves that surround it,
and mounts to the top of the mound, looks about for a few minutes,
flaps its wings, and then, at once, soars up in the air, and comes
back to its nest no more. If this be true, it knows where to look for
food, and how to take care of itself as soon as it is born.
Another Australian bird, the Telegalla, also builds a large nest,
though, by no means equal in size to that of the Megapodius. The
bird is larger, too. It is about the size of a turkey, and, like that fowl,
carries itself with quite an important air. It works in the grassy fields.
It cuts down grass by the handful; or rather, I should say, by the
clawful. For, after it has gathered a small bunch of grass, it grasps it
with one claw, and hops proudly along on the other claw to the spot it
has chosen for its nest.
 TELEGALLAS MAKING THEIR NESTS.
The male and female bird work for a long time in this way, and
make a vast number of journeys to and fro, always bearing to the
nest a little bundle of grass. They heap this up, as haymakers build
up their haycocks. In fact a Telegalla’s nest is not unlike a haycock,
and is about the size of one.
 Having reared up their nest as high as they think proper, the
female carefully places her eggs in the center; and then, with her
mate, takes her departure. They do not trouble their minds any more
about either eggs or nest. They know, in some mysterious way, that
the grass they have piled up will dry, when exposed to the sun, and
that it will be heated by this process. And they know that this heat
will hatch the eggs; and that the young birds will be able to take care
of themselves as soon as they issue from the shell. So, why should
they worry themselves about the matter?
In the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa, there are birds, not
larger than our sparrows, that build cities to live in. They belong to
the family of Grossbeaks, and these are called Social Grossbeaks,
because they live in communities. Hundreds of birds will unite in
building an immense nest, high up the trunk of some tree. They work
away with twigs, and sticks, and grass, and feathers, and moss. And,
when the structure is completed, it looks at a little distance as if men
had built some great timber work around the tree trunk. It is in reality
a city, consisting of rows of single nests, each one inhabited by a
pair of birds.
There they lay their eggs, and hatch them, and raise their children,
and teach them how to fly, and to get their living. Hundreds of
families live thus peaceably together, and have a good time helping
and visiting each other. Policemen do not seem to be necessary in
these cities, where each bird behaves just as well as he knows how.
 NESTS OF SOCIAL GROSSBEAKS.
No doubt, after their hard work is done, they have fine fun at their
parties, and merry-makings. Whether they have “town meetings,”
and public lectures, and parades, I know not. Private lectures, and
concerts, I am sure they must have! And the liveliest jigs and waltzes
among the branches of the trees!
A traveler in Africa once brought one of these nests away with
him. It contained 340 little nests. So it had been inhabited by 340
pairs of birds, and their families. It was so heavy that several men
were necessary to remove it from the tree; and it was taken away in
a wagon.
 THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF
GUTEFUNDUS.
Once upon a time—it was four hundred years ago—the great
Gutefundus, of blessed memory, made up his mind that he would go
all over the world, and do good to everybody. A great part of the
world as we know it, had not then been discovered, and there were
not so many people in those times as there are now. But still it was
something of an undertaking to go all over the world, and do good to
everybody.
Nevertheless, Gutefundus resolved to do it.
He decided, in the first place, that he would kill the great Sea
Serpent. This was a snake three or four miles long, which amused
itself by winding its coils around ships, thus crunching them up, after
which it would eat the crews at its leisure. If it were not very hungry it
would follow a ship a long time, rising out of the water occasionally,
and picking off a man or two at a time, until it had made an end of
the whole ship’s company.
Nobody ever knew where to find this snake, for it traveled all over
the ocean with incredible swiftness; and, it had such an extremely
hard and horny skin, that no dart or knife could pierce it. It was
therefore not an easy thing either to find the Sea Serpent, or to kill it.
Nevertheless Gutefundus determined to find it and kill it.
He embarked on this expedition in mid-summer, in the very best
vessel that could be made in those days, and with a crew of picked
men. Fortune favored him, and in the second month of the cruise,
the great Sea Serpent was after the ship of Gutefundus, little
dreaming that that very ship was after him.
The sailors were frightened nearly out of their wits when they first
saw the long line of this monster’s body rising and falling on the
waves, far in their rear. But the stout heart of Gutefundus knew no
fear. He took in sail, and waited for his foe. But the serpent was in no
hurry. He kept his distance for a couple of days, and then he sank
into the water and disappeared. Gutefundus feared the snake had
escaped him; but, a few days afterwards, it unexpectedly popped its
head out of the water, close to the ship’s sides, and, in an instant,
seized a sailor in its enormous jaws, and went down again with a
tremendous splash.

IT SEIZED A SAILOR IN ITS JAWS.

At that moment Gutefundus thought that, so far, he had done no

good to any body, and had been the means of leading the poor sailor
to his death.
But he did not despair. The Sea Serpent would come again, he felt
sure, and now that he knew the enemy’s tactics, he made his
preparations. The next time the Sea Serpent reared his head over
the ship’s side Gutefundus was ready for it. Barrels filled with water
were arranged all along the sides of the deck, and the moment the
great head was level with the deck, Gutefundus was in front of it;
and, in a twinkling, he rolled a barrel into the gaping mouth of the
creature. The astonished snake gulped down this unusual morsel
with some difficulty; and Gutefundus took advantage of this interval
of choking to plunge his long spear into one of the eyes of the
monster. It sank heavily into the water; and, for several days, the
ship sailed over a sea reddened with its blood.
And that was the last of the great Sea Serpent. It is a pity that the
Serpent’s body never rose to the surface, so that our hero might
have had its skin.
The next expedition of Gutefundus was to the Orkney Islands.
Wonderful trees grew in the marshes of those distant isles. They
bore eggs for fruit! At the proper season these egg-like fruits opened,
and out dropped little ducks into the water, where they immediately
began to swim about. These trees were called Bird Trees.
It was rather a singular thing that, although the learned men wrote
full accounts of these trees, and all the common people talked about
them, nobody had ever seen one of them.
Now, in Gutefundus’ country it sometimes happened that the poor
people had nothing to eat, and there would be a famine. He wisely
thought that if he could get some roots and slips of this Duck Tree,
and plant them along all the water courses, in a few years there
would be ducks enough for the very poorest family.
It was considered a very dangerous thing to take a voyage to
these savage islands, but Gutefundus decided he would do it.
And he did it. He met with some fearful adventures on the way,
but, after many weary months, he arrived at the Orkneys. And there,
sure enough, right before his eyes, was the wonderful Bird Tree! Its
long trunk stretched far out over the water. Its branches were loaded
with fruit. Some of this fruit was as close shut as an egg; but some of
it was splitting open, and the little ducks coming out. Some of the
ducks were just ready to drop into the water, and others had only a
small piece of bill stuck out of the egg. Hundreds had already fallen,
and were swimming gaily about.
 THE BIRD TREE.

The delighted Gutefundus plucked some of the fruit that had not
yet opened, and stored it away to take home to show to his
countrymen. His next proceeding was to take measures for
introducing the culture of bird-trees into his country. He concluded he
would cut off some of the smaller branches, and some little twigs,
and would put some of their native soil in tubs on the ship, and in
these he would root his slips. From these few slips bird-trees could
be spread over the country in a few years.
The task of choosing and cutting these slips he took upon himself,
and climbed the tree for that purpose. But, no sooner had he cut the
first little twig than he felt a great shudder running all through the
tree. It shook from top to bottom. The roots tore themselves loose
from the soil with such a wrench that the whole tree fell violently
forward into the water, and sank beneath the waves as if it were
made of iron. The ducks that were swimming around went down with
it, and were seen no more. Gutefundus, entangled in the branches,
would inevitably have gone down also with the tree, had he not
caught fast hold of some sedges on the shore, and, by a great effort,
got his feet free from the branches.
He, and the ship’s company knew then that this was a magic tree.
The gathered fruit they had, was therefore accursed, and they
immediately threw it all overboard. On touching the water it burst
with a great explosion. They then sailed away from the spot as
quickly as possible.
From that day to this there has never been another bird tree found
anywhere. And the poor people of Gutefundus’ country lived and
died without ever tasting tree-ducks.
His next expedition was the greatest of all the undertakings of
Gutefundus. Immense stores of gold, silver, and precious stones lay
buried in the rocks of certain caverns in the mountains. But men
could not go there to dig out the treasures, because the entrance to
these caverns was guarded by a terrible dragon. A few daring
individuals had ventured near this entrance, and, peeping in, had
seen heaps of bones. These, no doubt, were all that was left of men,
who, in some previous time had attempted to get the treasures. They
even got a sight of the dragon, and represented it as a gigantic
creature, partly beast, partly bird, and partly serpent.
These venturesome men were thankful to have escaped from the
neighborhood without going any nearer the cave; and, from that
time, no one had ever been within miles of it. But Gutefundus
resolved that these treasures should no longer lie there useless.
Mankind should have the benefit of them. Nobody believed he could
conquer this dragon. Nobody would accompany him on such a mad
enterprise. It did seem like going to certain death. Nevertheless
Gutefundus made up his mind to do it.
He set out alone. It took him three years to reach the forest that
surrounded the mountain, of which he was in search. He had passed
through strange countries, and had taken part in many a good fight,
but he arrived at the edge of the forest, a day’s journey only from the
caverns, well and in good spirits for the fight with the dragon.
 But here something befell him more wonderful than all he had
gone through in his life.
Night was approaching, and he looked about for a resting-place.
He heard the tinkling sound of a little bell, and bent his steps in that
direction. It led him some distance into the forest to a small hut,
made of dried mud. A little wooden belfry was built upon this, and the
bell was ringing at the close of day. Gutefundus, believing it to be the
dwelling of some hermit, entered it to ask for a night’s lodging. There
was no one there, and he wondered by what contrivance the bell
rang itself. While waiting for the owner to appear, he stretched
himself upon a couch of dried moss; and, being very tired, he soon
fell asleep.
When he awoke, he started up, and looked around in surprise. He
was still alone. His clothes were in rags; his feet were bare, for his
shoes had fallen to pieces on the floor; the hut had crumbled until it
was only a shattered mound; the wooden belfry lay around in broken
bits; the little bell was half buried in the dried mud, by his side, and
was nearly eaten up with rust. This reminded him of his sword, and
he looked anxiously for it. He saw it directly, on the earthen floor
close by him. It had, evidently, just fallen out of the scabbard, which,
all full of rents, was still attached to his rusty belt. The sword was as
bright as ever. He remembered now that it was the clattering it had
made in falling that had awakened him. Just then the gleam of
something white crossed his eyes. It was his beard, grown very long,
and perfectly grey. He was conscious then that his head felt cold. He
clapped his hands there, and found he was bald!
He understood the whole matter now. He had been in a magic
sleep! How many years he had slept he could not guess. Maybe two
or three hundred years. Such instances were not so very
uncommon. He recalled the names of several great men, who had
slept for a hundred years and more. Some of them were sleeping
still. It was clear that the dragon was a magician, and had led him
into the wood to put him into a magic sleep.
Gutefundus, upon this, arrived at two comfortable reflections.
Firstly, that the dragon was afraid of him, or it would not have sent
this sleep upon him; and, secondly, that it had no power over his
trusty sword, which was there by him unharmed. He took it up, felt
the edge, and found it sharp and keen.
He walked out of the wood, and sought the nearest town. His
appearance at first alarmed the people in the market place; but when
he told who he was, and on what errand he had come, and what had
befallen him, they received him with joy. They had heard all about
him, but everybody supposed he had been killed by the dragon
twenty years before.
He had slept for twenty years! He went into the hut a man in the
prime of life. He came out of it an old, bald-headed man.
But he was as courageous as ever. The dragon, it appeared, was
still alive, and no mortal man dared go near the treasures he
guarded. No one would go with Gutefundus to attack the fearful
beast. He could get no kind of armor in the town; and no suit to wear
except a blouse, and a pair of baggy trowsers. Such was the
costume of the place.
But he had his bright and trusty sword that had never yet failed
him, and he marched boldly into the wood again after the dragon.
He entered the cavern, and had proceeded unmolested for some
distance, when he heard a fearful roar, and out upon him rushed the
dragon. It stretched its beast’s body; opened its huge jaws; ran out
its hissing, serpent tongue; flapped loudly its bird’s wings; and curled
its snake tail.
 THE DRAGON OF THE CAVERN.
But Gutefundus stood his ground undaunted. He felt from the tips
of his toes to his bald crown that that serpent’s time had come. He
swung his sword on high. Up rushed the dragon; down came the
sword, whack! and cut the terrible head into two parts! The beast
was stunned, but not killed. Another stroke severed the body; and
the third cut off its tail.
 The dragon was dead, and the treasures thus became the
property of mankind.
Gutefundus contented himself with a small share of the spoils, and
passed the rest of his days quietly at home. He had been pretty
much all over the world; and, if he had not done good to everybody,
he had certainly taken some of the evil out of the earth.
I suppose none of my readers believe that these adventures
actually befell any man who ever lived upon the face of the earth.
But I have told you nothing that was not held to be true at the time
Gutefundus lived; and at a much later period too. Such wild legends
were fully credited, and not by ignorant people only. The three
pictures I have given in the story were drawn by the most learned
men of that olden time; and they had no doubt whatever of the
existence of the Dragon, the Sea Serpent, and the Bird Tree.
 SOME BIG GUNS.

Ever since the invention of gunpowder, the men who have been
devoting their attention to the science of gunnery for purposes of war
have been making their cannon larger and larger.
 A COLUMBIAD.
This is not the case with the weapons that are carried by soldiers;
for our rifles and muskets are much smaller than those used by our
ancestors. A hundred or two years ago, the great flint-lock muskets
and blunderbusses were twice as large as the rifles now used,
although they did not carry a ball half the distance, or with any thing
like the accuracy of our improved arms.
 But the cannon that used to be in fashion were but little things
compared to those of the present day.
You might put one of the old-fashioned cannon into one of our
great columbiads and fire it out of it instead of a ball.
And while the cannon have been growing larger and larger, the
defenses against cannon-shot are growing stronger and stronger.
Now our men-of-war are generally what are called “iron-clads.”
The hull is covered with immense plates of iron or steel, which it is
almost impossible to pierce with the heaviest balls or conical shot.
And the forts are so constructed that the great masses of metal that
are sometimes hurled against them in time of war seem to have but
little effect upon their massive sides. And so the competition
between the weapons of offense and the means of defense goes on.
As the cannon are made larger, the iron plates on the ships are
made thicker and stronger, and the forts are built with walls that are
more massive and more thoroughly ball-proof.
Which party will succeed in this contest it is impossible to say.
If walls and ships could be constructed that would be impervious
to the heaviest cannon balls, warfare would probably soon come to
an end, for if a nation could have such forts and such ships it would
be useless for any other nation to make attacks upon it.
And if cannon could be made that would send balls through the
sides of any iron-clad, or through the walls of any fortification, war
would probably soon cease, for no country could resist a hostile
nation thus armed.
Therefore it is almost to be hoped that one of these parties—the
manufacturers of great cannon or the builders of ships and forts will
so far surpass the other that the trials between them in time of war
will be considered useless.
But it seems very doubtful if a limit to the size and force of cannon,
and the strength of iron-clads and forts will soon be found.
 THE GREAT CANNON OF MALTA.
Although our cannon are so large, we hear stories of guns of the
kind that were very large and yet not at all modern.
It is said that the Knights of the island of Malta had a tremendous
cannon, which, when it was fired off, made everybody, even old
gunners stop their ears for fear that they would be deafened by the
terrific noise.
 And the Chinese, who certainly invented gunpowder long before
we thought of it, have a tradition that their country once possessed a
most enormous cannon. It was constructed of pieces that were
fastened together by great bands, like the hoops on our barrels and
casks.
It is said that this enormous cannon, the bore of which was so
large that you might sleep inside of it if you felt sure it was not to be
used before you came out, was never fired but once, and the
inhabitants of the locality where it stood (or still stands, for all I
know,) believe that the ball is flying yet.
It would certainly be unpleasant if any of us happened to be taking
a walk through a pleasant country, to meet this ball so suddenly that
there would be no time to turn out for it.
But one of our great American guns, that carry a five-hundred
pound ball for five or six miles, would certainly be able to knock this
Chinese cannon into a thousand splinters, if it could but once get a
fair crack at it.
I wonder what the ancients, with their battering rams, and
catapults, and javelins, and slings, and arrows, would have thought,
if an American field-battery had opened upon one of their bravest
armies.
In that case I think that even Achilles would have thought it as
necessary to take the same care of his whole body as he had before
taken of his heel—which you remember was the only part of him that
was vulnerable to the weapons of that day.