114 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



these vast cycles of change had been finally 

 completed before Man appeared. And as 

 regards fresh creations this supposition is still 

 supported by the testimony of science. So 

 far as we yet know, no New Form of Life 

 has been created since the Highest Form 

 was made. But it now appears that since 

 that event many Old Forms have died. The 

 Cycles of Creation had closed, but not the 

 Cycles of Destruction. Of itself, it might be 

 supposed that this fact has little bearing 

 upon the question of Time. The extinction 

 of some noxious animals in particular parts 

 of the globe, as for example in our own 

 country, has taken place within the period 

 of history, and some few species of wingless 

 birds, as the Dodo and the Great Auk, have 



