14 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
at Montreal. The mammals include the White whale (Delphinapterus 
leucas) from New Brunswick and the St. Lawrence and Ottawa valleys, 
and the Humpback whale (Megaptera boops) from Smith falls, Ontario. 
Remains of Mastodon (Mammut americanum) have been recorded from 
Cape Breton island, from the region of James bay, from Ontario, Mani- 
toba and Yukon, but nowhere, except possibly in Ontario, are they as 
plentiful as those of the elephant (Elephas primigenius) which are found 
from Hudson bay and Ontario in the east to British Columbia and 
Yukon in the west. Other large mammals are the Elk (Cervus cana- 
densis) from Ontario, the Musk-ox (Ovibos moschatus) from Yukon, 
Alberta and the southern interior of British Columbia, Bison crassicornis, 
Symbos tyrrelli, Equus sp. and Arctotherium yukonense from Yukon, 
the beaver (Castor canadensis) from Ontario, and the Harp seal (Phoca 
grenlandica) from the Leda clay at Fairville, near St. John, N.B., and 
at Montreal, Hull and Ottawa. In addition to the above mentioned 
species of mammals from the Yukon are the following, recorded by 
Quackenbush in his “Notes on Alaskan Mammoth Expeditions of 1907 
and 1908” (Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. 
XXVI, Art. IX), Bison occidentalis Boétherium bombifrons, Ovis sp. 
undet., Alce sp. undet., Rangifer sp. undet., Cervus canadensis and Canis . 
(wolf) sp. undet. This completes our Pleistocene fauna. 
As regards the antiquity of man in this country, no human remains 
have been found other than those of modern Indians. 
During the Pleistocene many vertebrates became extinct through 
natural causes induced probably by new conditions of life the direct 
result of the Glacial epoch. Since then, during the Recent period, 
which brings us to modern times and the animals of the present day, 
Man has been the principal destroyer, and it is through his agency that 
certain species have been exterminated and many others are now 
threatened with extinction. To man is directly attributable the dis- 
appearance of Stellar’s Sea Cow (Rhytina stellari) an inoffensive in- 
habitant of the north Pacific, the Great Auk (Plautus impennis) plenti- 
ful, not many years ago, in Newfoundland, and the Passenger Pigeon 
(Ectopistes migratorius) whose countless flocks are no more seen. The 
Bison will soon be numbered with these, as diminished herds and con- 
sequent inbreeding are factors which lead certainly to extinction. 
Grave consequences follow the upsetting of nature’s balance of life, as 
some countries have discovered to their cost, it therefore rests with us 
to prevent, as far as lies in our power, the wholesale destruction of life 
whether in the sea or on the land. Ignorance of the habits of animals 
and commercial greed are, in great part, responsible for this destruction, 
and it is only through education and wise legislation, properly applied 
and carried into effect, that it can be prevented. 
