44 REPORT OF THE SECRETARY, 



of the land so selected and coiideiniied by appointing' three commis- 

 sioners to appraise the value or values thereof, and to return the ap- 

 praisement to the Court, and when the values of such land are thus 

 ascertained, said values shall be paid to tbe owner or owners, and the 

 United States shall be deemed to have a valid title to said lands. 



That when the said commission shall have obtained the land for a 

 zoological park, as herein provided, it shall have power to lay out the 

 sauie as a park and to erect such building or buildings thereon as may 

 be necessary for the scieutitic purposes to which the park is dedicated 

 and proper, for the custody, care, and exhibition of a collection of ani- 

 mals. 



That when the said commission shall have established a zoological 

 park in the District of Columbia under the i)rovisions of this act, by ac- 

 quiring the necessaiy lands and by laying out the same as a park and 

 by the erection of the necessary buildings, thereupon it shall be the 

 duty of said commission to turn over the said zoological park, with all 

 its buildings and appurtenances, to the custody and care of the Regents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution ; and when such transfer of the custody 

 and care of the zoological park shall be made, the duties of said com- 

 mission shall cease and its existence terminate. 



That when the said commission shall tender to the Eegents of the 

 Smithsonian Institution the care and custody of the zoological park pro- 

 vided for in this act, the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are 

 hereby authorized to assume the care and custody of the same ; and 

 the said Regents of the Smithsonian Institution are hereby authorized 

 to make such rules and regulations for the management of the park, 

 and of the proi)erty, appurtenances, and collections of the park, as they 

 may deem necessary and wise to secure the use of the same for the ad- 

 vancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the peoi)le. 



[That the said commission is hereby authorized to call upon the Di- 

 rector of the Geological Survey to make such surveys as may be neces- 

 sary to carry into effect the provisions of this act; and the Director of 

 the Geological Survey is hereby authorized and required to make such 

 surveys under the direction of said commission.] 



I will take this occasion to observe that we have found great liberal- 

 ity in the donors of specimens. Among those to whom we are especially 

 indebted is the Hon. Eugene G. Blackford, commissioner of fisheries 

 for the State of Kew York, and an old and valued supporter of the 

 work of the Institution, who has presented us with two buffaloes, an 

 animal now become so rare as to have a high money value. 



The proposition for the establishment of a National Zoological Park 

 has met with a very surprising amount of support from all parts of the 

 United States.* 



* The followiug extract from "Public Opinion" will serve to give somewhat of au 

 idea of the character and extent of this support : 



[Pulilio Opinion, New Torli.l 



The National Zoological Park. — Of all the bills that have been introduced in Con- 

 gress this session, no other has been more universally approved by the press than 

 Senator Beck's bill for the establishmeut of a National Zooh)gical Park at Washing- 

 ton, on a grand and liberal scale, " for the advauceuient of science and the instruc- 

 tion and recreation of the people." With all our great game auiuials being swept 

 out of existence by modern breech-loaders, a magnificent site within 2 miles of the 

 Executive Mansion, a huge surjdus in the Treasury, gifts of live auiuials pouriug into 



