BELIEF AND UNBELIEF

The doctor was here interrupted by Featherstone, who, with a yawn,
informed him that it was eleven o'clock, and that human endurance had
its limits. Upon this the doctor rolled up the manuscript and put it
aside for the night, after which supper was ordered.

"Well," said Featherstone, "what do you think of this last?"

"It contains some very remarkable statements," said the doctor.

"There are certainly monsters enough in it," said Melick--

"'Gorgons, and hydras, and chimeras dire.'"

"Well, why not?" said the doctor.

"It seems to me," said Melick, "that the writer of this has peopled
his world with creatures that resemble the fossil animals more than
anything else."

"The so-called fossil animals," said the doctor, "may not be extinct.
There are fossil specimens of animals that still have living
representatives. There is no reason why many of those supposed to be
extinct may not be alive now. It is well known that many very
remarkable animals have become extinct within a comparatively recent
period. These great birds, of which More speaks, seem to me to belong
to these classes. The dodo was in existence fifty years ago, the moa
about a hundred years ago. These great birds, together with others,
such as the epiornis and palapteryx, have disappeared, not through the
ordinary course of nature, but by the hand of man. Even in our
hemisphere they may yet be found. Who can tell but that the moa or the
dodo may yet be lurking somewhere here in the interior of Madagascar,
of Borneo, or of Papua?"

"Can you make out anything about those great birds?" asked
Featherstone. "Do they resemble anything that exists now, or has ever
existed?"

"Well, yes, I think so," said the doctor. "Unfortunately, More is not
at all close or accurate in his descriptions; he has a decidedly
unscientific mind, and so one cannot feel sure; yet from his general
statements I think I can decide pretty nearly upon the nature and the
scientific name of each one of his birds and animals. It is quite
evident to me that most of these animals belong to races that no
longer exist among us, and that this world at the South Pole has many
characteristics which are like those of what is known as the Coal
Period. I allude in particular to the vast forests of fern, of
gigantic grasses and reeds. At the same time the general climate and
the atmosphere seem like what we may find in the tropics at present.
It is evident that i