108 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



A few of the primeval woods remain as reminders of 

 the past. A Hibernian friend, a genial ex-congressman 

 from New York, once defined a virgin forest as ' ' a place 

 where the hand of man has never yet set his foot. ' ' This 

 incident shows that the Irish bull, at least, is not yet 

 extinct. 



Our forestry laws have enabled us to save some of these 

 wholesome and delightful retreats. 



These woods, thus set apart as the sources of water 

 supply, may be made the city of refuge for the feeble 

 remnant of the mighty throng of animal life that once 

 filled this continent. 



We have seen the buffalo so nearly exterminated that 

 only about 500 living specimens today may be found in 

 the whole world. 



Their domestication was as practicable as that of the 

 reindeer, the horse, or the cow. 



The buffalo was the noblest of all the wild animals that 

 inhabited this continent when America was discovered. 



The ages in which this wonderful creature was evolved 

 into his peculiar form and size are inconceivable in dura- 

 tion. How admirably he was adapted to life upon the 

 western plains. When he had fed he traveled with his 

 fellows in long lines, single file, to the favorite watering 

 place. The herd did not spread abroad and trample down 

 and destroy the grass in such a journey, but in long and 

 narrow trails the journey was made, and when the drink- 

 ing place was reached and thirst was sated the buffalo 

 never defiled the pool in which he drank. 



He was a gentleman among beasts, just as the game hog 

 is a beast among gentlemen. 



Perhaps out of these scanty remains new herds may 

 again be produced. 



We have preserved the wild turkey, which Benjamin 



