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this time the wire has become seriously weakened by rust in spite of all efforts made for its preservation. A general reconstruction of the fences and paddocks will soon be necessary. During the year considerable repairs have been given to the fences inclosing the deer and the yak, and an additional inclosure and shelter has been made for deer.

Public comfort rooms.-The park is still deficient in suitable public comfort rooms for the accommodation of the public, especially for women and children, and this is especially felt on holidays, when the park is crowded. On Easter Monday thousands of children, with their parents and nurses, remain at the park nearly all day, and the accommodations are wholly insufficient. During the past year the rooms for women have been more than doubled, but they are still too small. A building is badly needed in which a public comfort room and restaurant could be combined.

Seats and benches.—During the past year a special clause for the purchase of seats was inserted in the act making general appropriations for the park. One hundred and sixty movable seats and 30 stationary benches were made and distributed throughout the park at points where they may be convenient for the public.

Coniferous trees.-The park received during the year an important gift of coniferous trees from Mr. Lowell M. Palmer, of Stamford, Conn. These comprise some thousands of specimens of different species. They will be planted in appropriate situations, and it is believed that they will eventually greatly add to the natural beauty of the park.

New survey and map.-The map which was prepared early in the history of the park has gradually become almost useless because of the numerous alterations that have been made. More accurate and abundant detail was also required in order that work might be always effectively planned. For this reason a new survey was made and a map prepared of the most important part of the park, covering about 40 acres. This map shows all trees, shrubbery, water and sewer pipes, and every detail of configuration practicable to express on its scale, which is 50 feet to the inch. Such a survey should be extended to the entire park.

Important accessions.-The following animals were received by gift:

From the President: One zebra, 1 lion, 2 gelada baboons, 1 north African ostrich, 1 Somali ostrich (from the King of Abyssinia), 1 female jaguar (from E. H. Plumacher, American consul at Maracaibo, Venezuela), also several small mammals, an eagle, etc.

From E. H. Plumacher, American consul, Maracaibo, Venezuela: Twenty-two specimens, including a young jaguar, 2 ocelots, 2 monkeys, 2 rough foxes, several parrots, etc.

From the Hon. H. G. Squiers, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Cuba: Eight specimens, including 3 Cuban deer and a hawk-bill turtle. From Admiral Robley D. Evans, U. S. Navy: One Philippine deer.

There were procured for the park by Dr. F. W. Goding, American consul at Newcastle, New South Wales: Fifteen specimens, including 3 kangaroos, 1 female Tasmanian devil (to complete pair), 1 male Tasmanian wolf (to complete pair), 2 brush turkeys, 2 Australian cranes, and some smaller birds.

From J. N. Ruffin, American consul at Asuncion, Paraguay: One young jaguar, 2 capybaras, 2 coypus, and a king vulture.

By exchange there were received from New York Zoological Park: One llama, 1 mandrill baboon, 1 hornbill, 2 crowned cranes.

From the Zoological Garden at Buenos Ayres, Argentine Republic: One pair guanacos, 1 pair peccaries, 1 hairy armadillo, 1 female rhea (to complete pair), 1 pair upland geese, 1 crested screamer, 2 rufous tinamou.

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NORTH AFRICAN OSTRICH PRESENTED TO THE PRESIDENT BY THE KING OF ABYSSINIA.

It has been found extremely difficult to make satisfactory arrangements for transportation from distant South American ports. The steamship companies refuse to receive animals without prepayment of transportation charges, which in the case of the United States Government is impracticable. Certain shipments of animals from Buenos Ayres are now waiting until some satisfactory adjustment can be made.

Through exchange with the New Zealand government (arranged by the President and mentioned in 1904 report) 8 roe deer were received. Ten elk, a number of birds, and several small mammals were delivered to the representatives of the New Zealand government in February and are understood to have reached their destination safely. The elk were desired for propagating purposes.

Births. The births, 134 in number, included 1 American bison, 7 elk, 4 mule deer, 2 Columbian black-tailed deer, 3 Virginia deer, 2 fallow deer, 2 Barbary sheep, 1 Brazilian tapir, 23 blue foxes, 7 dingo, 9 gray wolves, several kangaroos, various rodents, etc.; also about 30 young of night heron and other birds which nested in the flying cage. The wild turkeys which were hatched in the spring of 1904 have run at large, and 6, together with the hen, still remain in the park.

Deaths.-Gastro-intestinal troubles was the chief cause of death of animals and included 2 young jaguars and several other cats, 2 Tasmanian zebra wolves, a Rocky Mountain sheep, a cassowary, several flamingos, and various other birds and small mammals. A number of blue foxes were lost from uncinaria and two from ascaris canis.

Deaths from tuberculosis, though less in number, included more large animals, among those lost being 1 bison cow, 1 nilghai, 1 red deer, 7 roe deer, 2 elk, and 4 monkeys. The majority of these animals had recently come into the collection and were undoubtedly affected with the disease when received. Three monkeys were lost from osteomalacia, or cage paralysis," and a tinamou from pulmonary aspergillosis.

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Two elk and 1 prong-horn antelope were lost from accident, due in the latter case to fright.

Autopsies were made as heretofore by the pathologists of the Bureau of Animal Industry, either at the park, in the case of large animals, or at the laboratory of the Bureau in the case of the smaller kinds.

Readjustment of boundaries.-An item was again submitted in the estimates for $60,000 to purchase the land between the park and the new highways established along the eastern and western sides of the park. (Public Act, April 28, 1904, For the opening of connecting highways on the east and west sides of the Zoological Park, District of Columbia.") No action was taken by Congress.

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Exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. This was successfully maintained throughout the season with comparatively little loss. Two keepers were employed during the summer and autumn. The exhibit closed about the middle of November on account of cold weather, the birds being removed and transferred to the National Zoological Park. The cage was purchased by the city of St. Louis at its appraised value.

Personnel. The fixed force of the park numbers about 82 persons, of whom 8 are assigned to the administration, 29 to the care of animals, 20 to the mechanical department, 18 to the care of grounds, and 7 to the watch. Considerable difficulty has been found in obtaining suitable men for positions of keepers of animals. To be effective in this duty it is necessary to be quick, active, always alert, neither timorous nor venturesome, and to have a natural aptitude for

cleanliness. These are qualities that are considerably beyond what is required of a common laborer.

The keepers are divided into three classes receiving compensation as follows:

First class_.

Second class_
Third class

Per month. $65.00

62.50

60.00

These men allege that their service is extra hazardous, that they are usually required to work on Sundays and holidays, and that since the cost of living has advanced considerably of recent years some advance should be made in their wages.

Hospital and laboratory.-At present the park has no adequate provision for the care of sick animals nor for the quarantining of those believed to be affected with contagious or infectious diseases. When ill the animals remain in the exhibition cages, their sufferings being displayed to the public, and enhanced by the disturbance which necessarily goes on about them, or, if removed from their cages, they are placed in unsuitable quarters where they are subject to annoyance and far from comfortable. Several cases of contagious disease have been rapidly propagated to several animals for want of means of promptly isolating the first suspected case. There is need for a suitable building placed in a secluded part of the grounds where animals can be properly isolated and treated.

Connected with this there should be a laboratory in which proper examination can be made of the pathological and anatomical material that may come to hand. But very little is known concerning the diseases that affect wild animals and the parasites that associate themselves with them. An extension of our knowledge in this direction would undoubtedly be of benefit to those who are studying the diseases of man.

In other countries the most significant scientific function of collections of living animals has been the advancement of knowledge with regard to the structure, habits, and activities of animals. Nearly all such knowledge has been derived from zoological collections of a character similar to that of the National Zoological Park. For example, in the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, investigations have been carried on since the middle of the eighteenth century by men who achieved, in this way, a world-wide fame, such as Duverney, Daubenton, Buffon, Cuvier, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and Milne Edwards; in the garden of the Zoological Society of London worked Owen, Flower, Huxley, Sclater, Beddard, and many others; the garden at Berlin afforded Hartmann material for his work on anthropoid apes, and it was at the Amsterdam garden that Fürbringer was able to prepare his monumental work on the structure of birds. The collections of the National Zoological Park should be utilized in a similar way.

It is thought that a modest hospital and laboratory, similar to the one recently established at the zoological garden in Philadelphia, can be built and equipped at a cost of about $8,000. At the New York Zoological Park an institution of this kind is about to be erected which will probably cost considerably more.

Roads and paths. The park is much frequented by carriages. Lying, as it does, along the valley of Rock Creek, it affords the most convenient and pleasant access to the Rock Creek Park that lies north of it, and the main driveway in that park communicates directly with the principal road in the National Zoological Park. On this account it is of especial advantage to the public that the roadways in the National Zoological Park should always be in good con

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