The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-15

Washington. D. c., Jan. IA
though the wild life of North America
9 more abundant than that OF the
other continents OF the Northern Hem
sphere and has only Africa as a world
rival. yet our present-day richness in
this respect is decidedly poor COM
pared with the abundance and variety
OF mammalian life that roamed our
plains before the advent Of the white
man, while the vast number of species
which disappeared even before the In
dams came to inhahit the land is even
moro astonishing.
In communication 10 the National
Geographic Society, F. w. Nelson
chief OF the United States Geological
Survey. gives an amazing account of
North American wild life in prehis-
toric times. portion OF the COM
municaton has been made public by
the society in the following bulletin;
The original buffalo herds have
been estimated 10 have contained from
30. 900 600 to 60,000.0 600 animals (the
latter figure is 5000. 000 greater than
the total number OF cattle in the
United States. according to the census
Of 1870. and in 1870 it vas esti-
mated that about $3.50. 000 suIl sur
understanding by 100000 the
number OF mules in the United States
in 1910, A number of men now liv-
Ing were privileged to see some of
the great herds OF the West before
they were finally destroyed. Dr.
George bird Grirnell writes:
Train Stopped by Herd.
In 1870, l happened to be on a
train that was stopped for three hours
to let herd of buffaloes pass. We
supposed they would soon pass by,
but they kept on coming. On a num-
Der OF occasions in earlier days the
engineers thought that they could run
through the herds. and that, seeing
the locomotive the buffalo would
stop to turn aside; but after a few
motives had been ditched by the
animals the engineers got in the way
of respecting the buffaloes idiosyn-
cracies.'
Astonishing as was the number Of
buffaloes which roamed the plains Of
old, even more numerous were the an
telope, though the latter did not at
tract as much attention as the larger
mammals. Besides these, the chron-
iclers of the colonial days give many
interesting accounts Of the Incredible
number of other wild animals, in
Guiding bears, wapiti, white-tailed deer
and turkeys, on which the wolves
made fierce war. One writer mar
rates that during the winter of 1870
1871 fully 2,400 moose were shared
on the great Manitoulin Island at the
head OF Lake Huron.
Stock Now Depleted.
THE wealth of the animal life
found by our forebears was one of
the great natural resources of the new
world. Although freely. drawn upon
from the first. the stock was but lit
tie depleted up to within century.
During the last 100 years. however
the rapidly increasing occupation of
the continent and other causes, to-
gether with a steadily increasing COM
mercial demand for animal products.
have had an appalling effect The
buffalo, elk and antelope are reduced
to pitiful fraction of their former
countless. numbers
Practically all other large game has
alarmingly decreased and its ex-
termination has been partly stayed
only by the recent enforcement of
protective laws.
THE recent great. abundance of
large land mammals in North Amer
lea. both in individuals and Species.
is in striking contrast with their
scarcity in South America. the. differ
ence evidently beng due to the long
isolation of the Southern ccntinen