Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-07-28

and seas. We are inclined therefore TO
regard the average extinct animal as a
huge monster after the fashion of the
ichthyosaurus or the ptero1actyl-some
great reptile or beast whose outiandish
name is fully in keeping with the frightful
aspect such a creature must have present
ed while splashing about in the water or
soaring through the air like the fiery dragon
of the fairy tale.
But it must not be supposed that animals
of prehistoric times were the only ones to
enjoy the distinction of becoming extinct
for the work of determination has been 60
ing on ever since the world began and prob
ably at time in the history of creation
has 1t been rapid and widespread as
at the present day. In times long gone by,
when there were comparatively very few
people in the world or when there were no
people on the earth at all. animals became
extinct through the slow operation of pure
ly natural causes-change of climate. lack
Of food, or destruction by other animals
but as the human race increased and spread
over the earth, forests were cleared away,
settlements made, farms laid out, and
| towns and cities built, until what was once
a wild, uninhabited country became a great.
thriving nation.
The March of Civilization.
gether at home under such conditions. they
moved to other regions, only to he again
driven out by the advancing tide of human
ity, and so on. farther and farther from
their native haunts, at the same time being
rapidly and constantly reduced in numbers
at the hands of the pioneers and huntsmen.
The American buffalo, or bison, affords ore
of the best and at the same time one of the
most pitiabfe examples Of the extinction of
an animal through the cause of civilization.
AT the time of the discovery of America
millions and millions Of buffaloes roamei
over the entire country, from ocean to
ocean; in fact. it is claimed by good authori-
ties that never in the history of the world
did there ever exist at one time so vast
race of animals as the American bison.
Only comparatively few years ago great
numbers of them still roamed the plains of
the west, and what boy is there who has
not read with absorbing interest the stories
OF western life, in which the hunting Of
buffalo constituted the chief feature of
thrilling and exciting adventure? Even
then they numbered hundreds of thousands
and were a common sight to every traveller
beyond the Mississippi.
The buffalo and Seal.
Today the buffalo is practically an ex-
tinct animal With the exception Of one
or two small herds in some isolated por-
tons of Texas and the few individuals that
the government has been careful to pre-
serve there is not a buffalo left of that i'm
mense race. whose numbers seemed utterly
to defy extinction. Mankind is alone re-
sponsible Tor the determination of this ami |
NAL. and II We look at the statistics Of
creatures that are being constantly killed
for the purposes OF food and raiment but |
more especially to supply the capricious
and greedy demands of fashion, we cannot |
help wondering that more creatures have
not by this time been added to the long
list of extinct animals. When a few years |
ago hog-skin goods We're the fashion," the |
slaughter of peccaries in Texas was so |
great that these little animals became viz |
tually exterminated in the effort to meet
the demand for their skins.
The Animal Slaughter.
The records Of the yearly sales in London |
furnish a fair index of the enormous de-
struction of animals and birds that is con-
stantly going on to satisfy the whims of |
modern society. At a single sale in that
city some time since 10000 monkey skins
and 2Jo.Oo0 Australian opossums were dis
posed of. At another time 6,ooo birds of
Paradise, 100000 bird skins from India
and 100000 hurnming birds were sold, while |
not very long ago one dealer disposed OF |
2,0ooo10 bird skins during the year To |
supply the demand for sealskin sacaues re
auires the annual destruction of nearly |
o.0oo seals, while an additional 500 eco are |
slaughtered for their oil and hides In |
order that the people of the world may |
have all the ivory goods they want, 10000 |
elephants are slain each year-enough 20
make a procession in single file nearly aIo |
miles long. The mere hunting of animals |
for the sport of il is likewise a cause of |
the modern extinction of animals, and the |
graceful zebra and the ungainly giraffe in |
their rapidly decreasing numbers bear sor- |
rowful witness to this mode OF extermina-
ton. 1t is very evident, therefore that /
civilization Is now the most powerful fac
tor in Kidding the world of its wild ami |
mails. and that II Is performing Its work |
far more rapidly and ruthlessly than did 4
gentle nature before mankind undertook /
to manage the worlds affairs.
The Dodo.
Perhaps the most generally quoted ex-
ample of Q creature that has become ex-
tinct within recent times is the dodo: in
fact, ii is so totally extinct both in its |
living form and in its remains that at one /
time naturalists looked for its existence
as a myth. Since then. however, few
meager records Of this strange bird have
come to light, and we know that il was first
seen by the Dutch in 1888 on a voyage 10
the Island or Maurftius. The dodo belonged
TO the order of pigeons, although it could /
scarcely be said to have look ed like its
cousin. for chronicler of the voyage de-
scribes these fowls being bigger than
our swans, with large heads half of which
is covered with skin like a hood. These
birds want wings, in place of which there
are three or four blacklist feathers The /
ers of gay color" The chief characteristic
of this homely fowl was stupidity, whence /
II derives its name, as a corruption of the
Portuguese word "doudo," meaning a sim /
pleton.
How They Were ENtermtnatcd
As they had neither the sense nor the
ability TO fly out of harms way and as
the Dutch seem to have a particular grudge
against them. the dodoes were SLAUGHTERED 1
in great numbers, especially when in lGol
a crew under the command of William Van
West Zannen visited the island and spent
the chief part of their time in DESTROYING
everything they could lay their hands on.
Other Dutch crews followed, and treated
the poor dodoes in the same unfriendly
manner, until. in 1913, barely a century
after their discovery, not trace of the.
dodo was to be found, and as the Island of
Mauritius was the only place il ever lived
its eNterminati ton from the world was com
plete. On the neighboring island of Rodrj-
guez dwelt another curious bird, very close
ly resembling the dOdo. 'Of ali the strange
birds in the island the most remarkable is
that which goes by the name of the soli-
tary, because it is very seldom seen in
company, though there are abundance of
them" So writes Francois LeSaut, who |