GAME PROTECTION 141 



" 8. The sale of dead game should be prohibited. 



" There are few persons, intelligent or otherwise, who 

 will deny the desirability of preserving from 'destruc- 

 tion the splendid vertebrate fauna which still inhabits 

 our country. Throughout the whole United States, 

 the love of natural history, and interest in zoological 

 studies and their promotion is growing at a rapid 

 rate. 



" If all the people of this country were assembled, and 

 a rising x vote taken on the question Are our birds 

 and mammals worth preserving? we believe nearly 

 every man, woman and child would stand up to be 

 counted. Even the worst destroyers believe in limit- 

 ing the destructiveness of others ! Thanks to the 

 extent of our territory, and the diversity of its physical 

 aspect, our mammalian and avian faunas are still ex- 

 ceedingly rich and varied, as well as interesting and 

 valuable. With the exception of a few noxious 

 species, our wild creatures are well worth preserving, 

 and their further annihilation would be nothing less 

 than a national disgrace. And even though we of 

 to-day should feel little interest in the preservation of 

 the animal life indigenous to North America, it must 

 be remembered that we owe a duty to succeeding gener- 

 ations, and we have no right to rob those who come 

 after us of the wealth of living forms that Nature has 

 so lavishly bestowed upon this continent, and main- 

 tained in great abundance until fifteen years ago. The 

 zoological estate now in our possession is not ours in 

 fee simple, but by inheritance under entail ; and it must 



