2 INTRODUCTION 
the destruction continues, and at our second 
awakening we are probably too late. 
We owe a great deal to those who follow us, for 
we are the stewards into whose keeping the world 
is entrusted; we populate the world with our 
children who have the right to ask an account of 
our stewardship, and their children, and their 
children’s children after them. As we build 
museums and libraries to store away and preserve 
to the best of our ability those things which though 
perishable, we believe to be of interest, so must we 
do all in our power to protect the birds and animals 
that are practically imperishable except through 
man’s too frequent destructive agency. Some 
animals are probably doomed to extermination, as 
wild creatures at any rate, and perhaps also as 
captives ; among these are the lions, leopards, rhino- 
ceroses and others, whose methods of life are not 
conducive to human advancement and comfort. 
They can only be preserved as mounted specimens 
and in photographs; such pictures whether single 
or cinematographs will be of untold interest to 
those who follow us and we should feel the obliga- 
tion of not only securing really good negatives but 
of having those we have got properly cared for. 
Too often have I urged this and yet how little is 
being done! With the beaver it is not so much a 
question of securing photographs, for the beaver 
do not lend themselves to pictorial efforts. It is 
a question of securing for him proper protection. 
