New Hampshire Statesman And State Journal

The London Zoological Gardens. The London Quarterly Review, in an interesting article, descriptive of the Zoological Gardens, expresses the opinion that the site of the Gardens is by no means favorable to the purposes of a menagerie, for

"The Society have to contend with the London clay, which holds water like a dish, and which, in spite of all the drainage done, continues to hold it; so that after much rain, the garden is an absolute pond in some places, and dampness pervades every spot. To say nothing, however, of such a cold and humid atmosphere as the evaporation of so much moisture must produce, the total alteration of life, the entire disorganization of system which must arise in the case of an animal destined by nature for the most uncontrolled freedom, and to be supported by contingent supplies, few and far between—purchased, moreover, by laborious roamings, huntings, and watchings—should be taken into the account. The difference between the desert or the wilderness, and the cage—between the casual prey, and the regular supply of beef—would be sufficient to produce disease. We remember observing in the museum of the late Mr. Brookes, who obtained most of his skeletons of carnivorous animals from menageries, that there was hardly a specimen of the great cats, whose bones were not in a state of disease in some part or other of their frames. Still larger and drier dens, well elevated from the soil, and, above all, well ventilated, (this ventilation, or rather want of ventilation, is the besetting sin of our modern architecture, and is not confined to menageries,) would enable the animals to take some exercise, and amuse themselves, instead of dosing away the monotonous, lethargic life, to which they are now doomed. In short, the diseases of which the animals die in the gardens, are generally inflammatory, and the result of plethora." But with all the faults imputed to it, good judges have expressed their approbation of the Establishment.