The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1908-09-29
The cLAGLI4R.

The London Geological gardens diff
fer in two respects from the vast ma
jority of similar institutions in Europe
and America, and these differences
have much to do with their past his
tory and future development In the
first place, the Geological society of
London, which created and maintains
the gardens, enjoys no subsidy from
the state or the municipality 1t pays
rent for its ground, and rates and
taxes; it has to support the vast ex-
penses Of it's scientific work, of the
erection and maintenance of buildings,
Of the necessary staff, commissariat,
advertising and cost and carriage of
animals, except in those fortunate
cases where animals are presented and
delivered free.
Its revenue is derived from receipts
at the gates, from occasional sales,
from publications, and from the sub
scriptions of Fellows. The financial
burden is great and every innovation
has to be considered most anxiously
in the light of it's possible bearing on
income and expenditure.
The second determining popularity
is that the Geological society of Lon
don is a scientific society. According
to the charter of incorporation, grant
ed to it in 1929 by King George w,
it's objects were the advancement of
zoology and animal physiology, and
the introduction of new and curious
subjects of the animal kingdom" To
maintain an exhibition attractive to
the public it would probably be I'M
necessary to go beyond some 400 or
500 different kinds of mammals, birds
and reptiles, and not one visitor in a
thousand would realize that such a col
lection was very poor. The Geological
society, to fulfill it's functions, has to
range the globe for animals that are
uew and curious; and since its founda-
ton it has been able to exhibit about
900 different species of mammals,
1000 different species of birds, and
600 of reptiles, while every year is
adding to these numbers. No other col
lection of living animals can even APP
proacH these numbers. So great and
varied set of animals has always Of
fered, a large field for scientific
work.
When the zoo was first opened in
Regents park, it was very much
smaller in area, and the individual
dens and Enclosures for it's inhabit-
ants were designed on a small scale.
The tradition of the travelling
menagerie reigned supreme; and
structures such as the Carnivora ter
race, in which the bears are still
housed, resembled nothing so much
as a set of menagerie vans arranged
in a double row. 1t is certainly sur
prising how even large animals will
maintain health and spirits in very
narrow quarters; and there is the ad-
vantage to visitors that it is possible to
approach them more closely, and to
some extent see them better than
when they are placed in more natural
conditions. The authorities of the So
ciety, especially in recent years, have
taken the view that the study of ami
mails as specimens is best done on
stuffed examples in museums, and
that living collection should be ar
ranged, so far as possible, in such a
way as to display the natural habits
and capacities of the living creatures.
And so, as space and funds have per
mitted, larger Enclosures have been
formed.
may mention some of the more in
teresting of these. A great, undulat-
ing space has been turned into a
semblance of the South African des-
erts, provided with rockwork and COW
cred with yellow sand and shingle. In
this, Glands, the largest of the ante
lopes, number of small antelopes,
ostriches and occasionally zebras are
allowed to roam. The old sea lions
pond, kind of concrete basin, has
been replaced by a large pond with
rocky islands, dominated by a bold
mass of shelving rocks, in which caves
form natural shelters, and from the
lodges of which the sea lions dive in
pursuit of fish.
A beginning is being made with the