126 The Irish Naturalist. March, 



IRISH SOCIETIES. 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



January 29.— The Annual Meeting was held in the Royal Dublin 

 Society's Lecture Theatre. The Report of the Council, adopted at this 

 meeting, states that there were 195,034 admissions to the Gardens during 

 1906, being an increase of 6,612 as compared with the previous }'ear, while 

 the receipts, .£2,597, show an increase 0^107. The financial condition 

 of the Society is on the whole satisfactory. During the year over £"1,500 

 has been expended on buildings and on permanent improvements and 

 additions to the houses for animals. All expenses in connection with 

 these improvements have been paid. The purchase of animals cost 

 ^672 and their food £"793 On the other hand £"386 was realised by the 

 sale of animals. A sum of £*ioo was bequeathed to the Society by Sir 

 William Fiudlater, who had been for many years an active member of 

 Council. His legacy will enable the Council to carry out some urgently 

 needed improvements. A balance of £"777 remains to the credit of the 

 Society. 



The question of providing better accommodation for Anthropoid Apes 

 had been discussed for many years, and at last the plans which were in 

 contemplation at the time of the last General Meeting have been carried 

 out. The Council feel sure that the new house, which w 7 as finished at 

 Whitsuntide, will be successful in keeping the delicate Apes in better 

 health and in greater comfort than before. The whole of the annexe to 

 the Monkey House has been converted into a single large cage. This 

 cage can be divided at will into four separate compartments, the. roof 

 and south wall being fitted with glass in such a manner as to allow every 

 available ray of sunlight to enter. The south side of this new structure 

 is in such a position that a two-fold purpose is served thereby — namely 

 that of enabling visitors to see the Apes without entering the Monkey 

 House, and of giving the Apes a cheerful outlook into the Gardens. In 

 warm weather the sashes in the roof can readily be opened, and the 

 south half of the cage is then practically a sunny open-air shelter. A 

 room for the keeper has also been provided. A completely new building 

 erected in the year is the Small Carnivore House. It is of an octagona 

 shape, and contains novel devices, not hitherto carried out in similar 

 structures. To it were transferred in the summer many ofthesmal 

 hardy Carnivores, which for lack of suitable accommodation were 

 formerly placed in the Monkey House. This new house is entirely 

 unheated, and quite open to the outer air on one side. It affords, there- 

 fore, further opportunities for the trials which have been conducted in 

 the Gardens of keeping animals in the open air as much as possible 

 during night and day. The Rhesus Monkeys alluded to in last year's 

 Report, are now passing their second winter in the large open-air cage, 

 formerly used as an aviary. The results of these experiments encourage 

 the Society to add further buildings of a similar kind for large Carnivores 

 as soon as funds are available. 



