MEDIEVAL NOTIONS OF NATURAL HISTORY. 53 



them in the fire for a short time. Fortunately for the dhobies, 

 this bird is now extinct ! After reading such an account 

 as this, one cannot but admire the inventive power of some 

 of the ancients, and despise the absurd credulity of the 

 others. One further feels that now-a-days the study of 

 natural history is a very tame affair compared to what it was 

 in the good old days of yore. 



