Extinct Monsters: A Popular Account of Some of the Larger Forms of Ancient Animal Life

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, History, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book Extinct Monsters: A Popular Account of Some of the Larger Forms of Ancient Animal Life by H. N. Hutchinson, Library of Alexandria
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: H. N. Hutchinson ISBN: 9781465575715
Publisher: Library of Alexandria Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint: Language: English
Author: H. N. Hutchinson
ISBN: 9781465575715
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Publication: March 8, 2015
Imprint:
Language: English
Natural history is deservedly a popular subject. The manifestations of life in all its varied forms is a theme that has never failed to attract all who are not destitute of intelligence. From the days of the primitive cave-dwellers of Europe, who lived with mammoths and other animals now lost to the world; of the ancient Egyptians, who drew and painted on the walls of their magnificent tombs the creatures inhabiting the delta of the Nile; of the Greeks, looking out on the world with their bright and child-like curiosity, down to our own times, this old, yet ever new, theme has never failed. Never before was there such a profusion of books describing the various forms of life inhabiting the different countries of the globe, or the rivers, lakes, and seas that diversify its scenery. Popular writers have done good service in making the way plain for those who wish to acquaint themselves with the structures, habits, and histories of living animals; while for students a still greater supply of excellent manuals and text-books has been, and still continues to be, forthcoming. But in our admiration for the present we forget the great past. How seldom do we think of that innumerable host of creatures that once trod this earth! How little in comparison has been done for them! Our natural-history books deal only with those that are alive now. Few popular writers have attempted to depict, as on a canvas, the great earth-drama that has, from age to age, been enacted on the terrestrial stage, of which we behold the latest, but probably not the closing scenes. When our poet wrote “All the world’s a stage,” he thought only of “men and women,” whom he called “merely players,” but the geologist sees a wider application of these words, as he reviews the drama of past life on the globe, and finds that animals, too, have had “their exits and their entrances;” nay more, “the strange eventful history” of a human life, sketched by the master-hand, might well be chosen to illustrate the birth and growth of the tree of life, the development of which we shall briefly trace from time to time, as we proceed on our survey of the larger and more wonderful animals of life that flourished in bygone times. We might even make out a “seven ages” of the world, in each of which some peculiar form of life stood out prominently, but such a scheme would be artificial.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Natural history is deservedly a popular subject. The manifestations of life in all its varied forms is a theme that has never failed to attract all who are not destitute of intelligence. From the days of the primitive cave-dwellers of Europe, who lived with mammoths and other animals now lost to the world; of the ancient Egyptians, who drew and painted on the walls of their magnificent tombs the creatures inhabiting the delta of the Nile; of the Greeks, looking out on the world with their bright and child-like curiosity, down to our own times, this old, yet ever new, theme has never failed. Never before was there such a profusion of books describing the various forms of life inhabiting the different countries of the globe, or the rivers, lakes, and seas that diversify its scenery. Popular writers have done good service in making the way plain for those who wish to acquaint themselves with the structures, habits, and histories of living animals; while for students a still greater supply of excellent manuals and text-books has been, and still continues to be, forthcoming. But in our admiration for the present we forget the great past. How seldom do we think of that innumerable host of creatures that once trod this earth! How little in comparison has been done for them! Our natural-history books deal only with those that are alive now. Few popular writers have attempted to depict, as on a canvas, the great earth-drama that has, from age to age, been enacted on the terrestrial stage, of which we behold the latest, but probably not the closing scenes. When our poet wrote “All the world’s a stage,” he thought only of “men and women,” whom he called “merely players,” but the geologist sees a wider application of these words, as he reviews the drama of past life on the globe, and finds that animals, too, have had “their exits and their entrances;” nay more, “the strange eventful history” of a human life, sketched by the master-hand, might well be chosen to illustrate the birth and growth of the tree of life, the development of which we shall briefly trace from time to time, as we proceed on our survey of the larger and more wonderful animals of life that flourished in bygone times. We might even make out a “seven ages” of the world, in each of which some peculiar form of life stood out prominently, but such a scheme would be artificial.

More books from Library of Alexandria

Cover of the book Germany's Fighting Machine: Her Army, her Navy, her Airships and Why She Arrayed Them Against the Allied Powers of Europe by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book A Common-Sense View of The Mind-Cure by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Our Little Finnish Cousin by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Guilty Bonds by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book India's Love Lyrics by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Art Studies from Nature as Applied to Design: For the use of Architects, Designers, and Manufacturers by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book The Talmud by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book An English Girl in Japan by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp, Or, the Old Lumberman's Secret by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book From The Easy Chair, vol. I by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Roumanian Fairy Tales and Legends by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Architecture: Classic and Early Christian by H. N. Hutchinson
Cover of the book Selected Short Stories of William Le Queux: A Move on the Forty, A Run With Rosalie, A Sentimental Swindle, The Six New Novels, and The Story of a Secret by H. N. Hutchinson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy