The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-08-05
PTERoDACTYLs AND OTHERS.

iIV4C - no LlliII W tue ljI NtAuClS Vi IltSuU
County. 1t can not only grow finer raisin
grapes than any other spot in the world, and
more of them. more luscious figs, bigger wal
nuts, sweeter peaches aAd better aprieOts.
but ii has lately gone into the business of
raising wild animals. and in this, as in every
thing else, it bids'fair to defy competition.
It's latest achievement, according to the re-
port of reliable citizens, is the production
of a pair of pterodactyls, which are flying
round with the deSoate freedom of the
wild bird, ravaging henrOosts and terrifying
the timid feilow-ctiZens of the late lamented
William Forsyth. a learned contemporary
confirms the report of the discoveries Of the
prehistoric bird, and adds that there is
nothing surprising in il, for though the
pterUdactyls did properly belong TO the
mesoZ0ic age, geological ages oyerlapped,
and there would be nothing impossible in
the survival of a pnlr Of these curious
creatures to this day.
All that can be said Of this is that II the
p.erOdactyl did overlap so far, its stretch of
wing must beat anything that was ever seen
in the heavens above, or in the earth be-
meath, or in the waters under the earth.
The only specimens of the fossil pterodactyl
which have been found have occurred in the
States and chalk formations of the cretace-
Gus system. in the secondary era. This era
was followed by the tertiary era, which, ac-
cordlng to biologists, must have lasted
millions of years, and this again by the
quaternary, which in its turn was succeeded
by the glacial age, or ages. All these eras,
whose duration cannot be estimated in years
or centuries, interviewed between the period
when the pterodactyl dug its prodigious
beak into the mud and the present day.
There never was q fossil of that order
found in the eocene, or the pliOcene, or the
miocene, or the pleistocene. The curious
creature, half bird half reptile, which was
generally about the size of small bat, but
which occasionally grew to such dimensions
that the tips OF its wings were twenty feet
apart, persisted in the commissions which
preceded the tertiary deposits. 1t had ceased
to catch small fish in salt marshes long be-
fore Fresno rose up out Of the bowels of the
sea.
1t is true, as our contemporary observes,
that geological eras overlap and that an oc-
casiOnal specimen OF the fauna or flora
of one era Is found in the fossils of its sue
cessor. But for that to be the case the eras
must follow each other without break
There IS no more chance Of finding at the
present day living member of the vast rep
tile family which fourished in the cretaceous
age than there is of Nuah's Ark coming
into port and anchoring off Meiggs Wharf.
Not only is that the case, but quite con-
siderable number Of species of animals
which lived in the present era a few CEN
turtles ago have died out, or are dying out.
The great aux, which was once not uncom
mon in Northern Europe, is believed to be
extinct. So is the moa of New Zealand,
,fal, Co. Ia H..
woody elephant, which roamed the frozen
tundra Of Siberia since the world assumed
its present shape, has not been seen in life
since the historic period began. There can
be little doubt Of the existence at one time
of the unicorn, though it is now generally
regarded as Il tabled creature. In our own
time the buffalo is rapidly disapuearing. 1t
will cease to exist unless care is taken to
preserve few members of the family in
public parks. They write from Australia
that the kangaroo is growing scarce. 1t also
will probably only surviyein captivity. The
sea-seIpent, which is the subject of so many
forecastle yarns, was certainly denizen of
the sea after man had begun to inhabit the
earth.
All these creatures came into existence
when the conditions were favorable for
their life. They lived and f0urlshed so long
as those conditions lasted. When the con-
ditions changed they began to languish, and
finally faded away, like the North Ameri-
can Indian. They appear to be succee ded,
not by new species and new genera, but by
improved forms Of existing species and gen.
era. The wild boar Of the Ardennes has
made way for the Berkshire pig; the fierce
wildcat for the domestic pet which nestles
on the rug before the fire; the sullen, silent
dog, that was akin to the wolf. has been sue
ceeded by the faithful watchdog, which
alone of all brute creatures is susceptible OF
unselfsh devotion; wild cattle by herds Of
mich kline; intractabe horses. feeding as
often on flesh as on grass. by the thorough
breds of the present day, as docile as chill
dren and as sagacous as man. The gain
which the world has realized out of the
transmuiation reconcies US to the loss of a
few species OF no particular utility and
rarely gifted with beauty.