EXTINCT ANIMALS 



in England till the time of Henry VIII., at the 

 end of the fifteenth century, and 150 years 

 later in Scotland and Ireland. But it was 

 entirely exterminated b}^ human beings, on 

 account of its rapacious and dangerous habits. 

 Though it is extinct in England, it still exists in 

 France, Spain, Germany and Russia. 



Here is another animal (Fig. 8), the beaver, 

 which used to exist in England, and was found 

 as late as the sixteenth century in Wales. It 

 still exists in France, on the banks of the 

 streams at the mouth of the river Rhone ; also 

 in Russia and Scandinavia. In America, in 

 Canada, beavers are still more abundant. 



Another creature which, records tell us, 

 existed all over Europe, and which has ceased 

 to exist, is the great bull or Urus of Julius 

 Caesar (Fig. 9). He mentions it as existing 

 wild in different parts of Europe, and says it 

 was nearly as big as an elephant. Well, no 

 such great wild ox now exists in Europe. The 

 last was killed near Warsaw in 1627. All we 

 have now are the breeds derived partly from 

 this, partly from other kinds of bulls, which, 

 are quite changed in their general appear- 

 ance. Some of the more or less wild cattle 



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