100 



ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 30 



The visitors are from every State in the Union and practically 

 all parts of the world. 



The attendance of organizations, mainly classes of students, of 

 which we have definite record, was 28,814 from 465 different schools, 

 in 15 States and the District of Columbia, as follows : 



states 



Connecticut 



Delaware 



District of Columbia 



Georgia 



Maryland-.- -.- 



Massachusetts 



Michigan 



New Jersey -.- 



New York 



States 



North Carolina 



Ohio 



Pennsylvania.- 

 South Carolina 



Tennessee 



Virginia 



West Virginia-. 



Total 



Number 

 persons 



747 

 151 

 C, 664 

 293 

 129 

 854 

 560 



28. 814 



Number 

 parties 



Even casual observation of the cars parked in the zoo gives a fair 

 cross section of the visiting j^ublic, but many of the local cars visit- 

 ing the zoo from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia 

 carry visitors from distant States and from remote parts of the 

 world. 



The National Zoological Park serves a higher and more important 

 function than that which is most commonly attributed to it. In ad- 

 dition to being a place for recreation and entertainment, it is an 

 important and unique educational institution. It is unique in that it 

 is a place of study for all ages and degrees of scholarship, from the 

 young child to the veteran naturalist and research man. 



Its accumulated data on animals handled over a period of 40 years 

 are constantly referred to. Facts learned regarding animals in the 

 zoo often have a very practical application in other fields of activity. 



The beginner in zoology gains at the zoo a grasp of the differences 

 and likenesses between animals, while he rubs shoulders with the 

 advanced medical man studying the primates to help him in solving 

 problems concerned with the health of mankind. The study of para- 

 sites and diseases of wild animals in the zoo assists students of para- 

 sites and diseases of man and domestic animals in their researches. 

 In short, the National Zoological Park as a laboratory is probably of 

 even greater value to the American people than it is as a recreational 

 area. 



IMPROVEMENTS 



A contract was let for the construction of the reptile house, and the 

 work was started in March, 1930. This building promises to be one 

 of the finest of its kind in the world. It will allow the zoo for the 

 first time in its history to maintain a collection of cold-blooded verte- 

 brates as well as certain invertebrates. 



