Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/78

 �The coratnission lioperl to eoncltnle its labors acd to retui'D to Englaotl in December, trhea a detailed report of its work would be passed tbrotigb llie press at onue. This report will be read with very great interest, for Dr. Klein's work has heretofore been excellent in its con- scientiousness. It will be seen, however, that all their results are purely negative, so far as can be judged fVom the abstract before lis ; and judgment upon the work should be deferred unUl the evidence is all in. With Koch'a iiosi- tive results so recently reported, and the re- sult of his further work still to come, the problem cannot yet he considered lo be defi- nitely settled.

Suot'LD SOME serious effort not he made to preserve the American bison from total estinc- lion ? To save some remnant of the vast herfs of this noble animal which even a few years ngo existed, some speedy and effective action is needed ; and posterity- will surely And a just cause of complaint against the present genera- tion if such action is not taken. It is a mis-

��direction would ,it least save iis the disgrace being found altogether supine io the matter.

��While the Yellowstone Park may not aHbrd the environment most natural to the American bison, may it not be in reality the best refuge it is now practicable to offer it? In order to preserve any number of these animals from slaughter, obviously it would be necessarv to restrain their wanderings. In short, any rem- nant of the once numerous herds we may de- sire to preserve would have to be kept in ao enclosed park ; and this, in order to enable the animals to retain in any considerable degree their natural habits, should be of lai^e size. It is theieforc a matter that the government may very properly be asked to take in hand, it being beyond the ability or means of indi- vidual citizens. So widely scattered are the email remnants of herds which still eiist, and so distant are they from convenient means of transportation, that even the procurement of a small band of from twenty-five to fifty — a less number would hardly suffice — would entail take to suppose that extensive hcrfs still exist the expenditure of much time and money, and

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��n the Canadian north-west or elsewhere. Laat summer a fen animals made their way as far north as the Red Deer River, and scattered individuals are still occasionally found in the broken region about Wood Mountain ; but it is doubtful if at the present moment there exist as many as a couple of hundred in all the plain country north of the international boundary. If any herds worthy the name are still to be found, it is in the Upper Jlissouri and Yellow- stone region ; and.judging from published state- ments concerning the trade in robes, these are on the verge of extinction. The preservation of an animal with the rowing habits of the bison is undoubtedly a difficult problem, but should not prove an impossible one. Even if the Yellowstone Park were wholly unsuitcd for the permanent residence of the bison, some other naturally bounded tract might surely be found, in which a smalt herd of these animals might be allowed, as far as possible, to retain Iheir natural habits and yet be protected from ^laughter. A conscientious attempt in this

��)uld even now be accomplished only with great difficulty, while, if delayed much longer, might become practically impossible.

A bison preserve, wherever located, would ' necessitate not only a large outlay at first, in securing the herd and providing a properly enclosed park, but also constant expendi- ture in the way of providing proper keepers. Unless some more favorable section of coun- try, both as regards proximity to the herds and environment, can be selected for the pur- pose, a ix)rLion of the Yellowstone Park should at once be set aside as a bison preserve, be properly enclosed, and stocked with as large a number of bisons as it may be practicable to procure. In thia way, while we should not have the bison in exactly a state of nature, we might be able to preserve indefinitely a i-especlablc remnant in a semi-domestic state ; somewhat as the Auerochs, the old-world con- gener of our bison, is preserved i ment park in Lithuania.

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