WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG 193 



declares it 'was better to the eye than to the stomach.' 

 The last Dodo was seen in 1681. 



When we visit a zoological gardens, it is impossible 

 not to be struck with the fact that certain of the animals 

 that we are looking at seem strange to our minds, as if 

 they had come from a world of which we know nothing, 

 and belonged to a state of life we could never understand. 

 We may be gazing at all the beasts equally for the first 

 time, but we know exactly what to make of a lion, a 

 puma, or a zebra; while an elephant, a rhinoceros, or a 



PTERODACTYL 



kangaroo, fills us with thoughts that we can hardly explain 

 even to ourselves. 



Now, perhaps these vague feelings arise from these 

 creatures really representing the life of such ages ago 

 that nobody can even venture to guess at a date. As will 

 be seen, from the short account given above, of animals 

 that are now extinct, they none of them were exactly like 

 the beasts and birds to be met with now, but they were 

 like enough to them to show that they belonged to the 

 same race. We all have felt a curious sensation when 

 we have met an old gentleman or lady who persists in 



K 



