456 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



dated April oO, 1890, providing for the " organization, improve- 

 ment, and maintenance " of a National Zoological Park. This act 

 places the park under the direction of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, and orders that it be administered for the advancement of 

 science and the instruction and recreation of the people. 



As soon as surveys could be completed, about one hundred 

 and seventy acres of ground most picturesquely situated on Rock 



Creek, near Washington City, 

 were secured and prepara- 

 tions begun for the reception 

 of animals. This undertaking 

 is so recent that little more 

 has been accomplished than 

 constructing roads, building 

 animal houses, fences, etc., 

 but there are already more 

 than five hundred animals in 

 the embryo Zoo. The natu- 

 ral features of the region, 

 with its watercourses, ra- 

 vines, rocky cliffs, forest 

 trees, open glades, and sunny 

 southern slopes, are superior 

 to any site occupied in this 

 way abroad or at home, and 

 its extent is ten to fifty times 

 greater than that of most of 

 the gardens of Europe. Un- 

 der the management of Dr. 

 Frank Baker, the future of 

 the National Zoological Park is very great ; he plans to place the 

 animals on ground appropriate to their natural habits and in- 

 stincts, so that they can live under conditions similar to those en- 

 joyed in freedom a scheme only possible in a park of such great 

 extent and variety of natural features. 



Astro-physical Observatory. Prof. Baird had begun prep- 

 arations for the establishment of an observatory for the study of 

 the physical condition of celestial bodies, and when Mr. Langley 

 succeeded to the secretaryship this eminent authority on solar 

 physics soon secured its endowment by Congress. The late Dr. J. 

 H. Kidder bequeathed five thousand dollars for prosecuting phys- 

 ical researches, and Dr. Alexander Graham Bell presented the like 

 sum to the Secretary for the same purpose. In 1889-'90 a tempo- 

 rary wooden building was erected in the Mall south of the Norman 

 building, and, though not entirely suitable for delicate research, 

 much excellent work has been accomplished. In it are placed a 



G. Brown Goode. 



