THE TASMANIAN THYLACINE. 



Across the zoological history of the nineteenth 

 century one may well write the word "extermination"; 

 for as Omar destroyed the priceless treasures of the 

 Alexandrian library so have others robbed the 

 world for ever of many beautiful and interesting 

 animals. Nevertheless, the w^ord "preservation" 

 may eventually be inscribed upon the record 

 of the twentieth century ; on general principles one 

 may well applaud the satisfactory supervision which 

 now ensures that as far as humanly possible the 

 zooloofical riches of the world shall not be as 

 aimlessly squandered in the future as they have been 

 in the past. The preservation of destructive beasts, 

 especially those which prey on the stock of the 

 farmer, is however a difficult problem. Thus, even 

 the Cape hunting-dog has its due place in nature ; 

 one must not, in view of its bloodthirstiness, lose 

 sight of the fact that, as much as any quagga or 

 dodo, if once orone it is orone for ever. Another 

 case in point is that of the thylacine of Van Diemen's 

 Land — the Tasmanian thylacine, strictly speaking. 



