48 SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY OF SAN ANTONIO 



make records for reckless and wanton slaughter, which put them in a class 

 together and quite apart from predatory animals. ' ' 



In the open mountain and vast plain regions in Africa, Asia 

 and other parts of the world, big game is now being killed much 

 faster than it breeds and the fate of the American Buffalo awaits 

 the elephant, the giraffe, the zebra, the hippopotamus, the 

 rhinoceros, and other noble big game animals, which formerly 

 roamed those regions in countless numbers. Commercialism has 

 transformed an earthly paradise into modern communities, where 

 the beauty of nature and the value of her wild creatures has been 

 lost sight of during the rush of business, the mad race for dollars, 

 and the demands of fashion and society. The natural haunts 

 and nesting places of many species of birds have been destroyed, 

 as well as the birds themselves, and the result is that the "balance 

 of nature" (that is, each species acting as a check upon others) 

 has been interfered with, and we are confronted with the serious 

 problem of an unnatural increase of injurious insects, vermin 

 and disease. 



The pollution of streams and bayous has resulted in great 

 mortality among wild ducks and other waterfowl in some states. 

 In 1912 nearly 45,000 dead ducks were picked up on one marsh in 

 Utah and it is stated that thousands of wild ducks and other 

 aquatic birds meet their death by alighting at night in the oil 

 covered lakes and tanks of Mexico, which they mistake for fresh 

 water. 



The use of the plumage of wild birds for millinery purposes 

 has been one of the chief causes of the destruction of bird life, 

 and many of the most beautiful and curious birds, in different 

 parts of the world have been slaughtered to meet the demands of 

 the feather trade. Millions of useful birds have been sacrificed 

 on the altar of fashion and their feathers used to decorate the 

 heads and hats of the fair women of Europe and America. Until 

 quite- recently those who desired to see a stop put to the plumage 

 traffic and who advocated the protection of non-game birds, 

 were generally regarded as sentimental, silly minded people, and 

 in legislative halls and other places they were accused of inter- 

 fering with "practical business." It was "practical business" that 

 almost exterminated the American Buffalo for their hides leav- 

 ing their carcasses to rot on the plains. It was "practical busi- 

 ness" that slaughtered the passenger pigeons by the millions and 

 fed their bodies to the hogs. It was "practical business" that 

 tore the wings off millions of terns and sea gulls for the millinery 

 trade, the plumes from millions of herons and egrets, and the 

 breasts from thousands of grebes in their nesting seasons, leaving 



