O. MISCELLANEOUS. 589 



long be available. At present the society owns one hun- 

 dred and thirty-one living quadrupeds, six hundred and sev- 

 enty-four birds, and erght reptiles. The superintendent of 

 the gardens has been engaged for some time past in collect- 

 ing animals for the society in Australia, and is now in India 

 for the same purpose, and in the course of the year extensive 

 collections are expected. The species now on hand include 

 a large proportion of the wild animals of North America. 



Although the time lias been too short to accomplish a 

 great deal in the way of building, yet the grounds have been 

 graded, drains and water-pipes have been introduced, deer- 

 parks constructed; an entrance-lodge, monkey-house, and in- 

 cisures for buffaloes built; and there are now three large 

 stone bear-pits in process of construction, and a brick and 

 iron aviary, an eagle aviary, and other arrangements have 

 been completed, or are under way, for the purposes of the 

 society. A building in the grounds is being converted into 

 a restaurant, and much has been done in planting ornamental 

 shrubbery and improving the roadways. 



It was proposed at the meeting to open the garden about 

 the 1st of June, or within a vear from the beo-innin^ of the 

 work upon the grounds. The society is authorized to charge 

 twenty-five cents admission, to aid in defraying the expenses 

 of the garden. It is not a public institution, but an associ- 

 ation of private parties, without any expectation of profit, 

 however, from the investment. The principal officers elected 

 for the year were Dr. William Camac, president ; Dr. John L. 

 Le Conte, corresponding secretary ; William S. Vaux, George 

 W. Childs, and other well-known citizens of Philadelphia, 

 as managers. 



It behooves the citizens of New York to be on the alert, 

 if they do not wish to be outstripped by Philadelphia in the 

 favorite project of a first-class zoological garden. 



REORGANIZATION OF THE MARYLAND ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



The Maryland Academy of Sciences, of Baltimore, has re- 

 cently been reorganized, and promises to assume a prominent 

 position among sister institutions in the United States. The 

 srerm of this societv was started in the year 1819 in the form 

 of an association for the promotion of science, and was in- 

 corporated on the 16th of February, 1862, as "The American 



