MOSTLY MAMMALS 
ANIMALS EXTERMINATED DURING THE 
NINETEENTH CENTURY 
Wuite the century which has lately closed may fairly lay 
claim to the gratitude of posterity on account of the mag- 
nificent tale of zoological work accomplished during its 
course, it is, on the other hand, undoubtedly open to the 
charge of having permitted the total extermination of not 
a few animals, and of having allowed the numbers of 
others to be so reduced that their disappearance, at least 
as truly wild creatures, can scarcely be delayed very many 
years longer. Possibly, if not probably, the sweeping away 
of the enormous herds of many species, like those of the 
American bison, may have been an inevitable accompani- 
ment of the march of civilisation and progress; but there 
is no sort of excuse to be made for the fact that in 
certain instances naturalists failed to realise that species 
were on the very verge of extermination, and that they 
were actually allowed to disappear from the world without 
being adequately represented in our museums. Nor is it 
by any means certain that even the present generation is 
altogether free from reproach in this matter, for although 
it cannot be said that any species hovering on the verge 
of extermination are absolutely unrepresented in collections, 
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