ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



633 



RARE BATRACHIANS EXHIBITED. 



Crowded as we are for cage space in the 

 Reptile House, the curator has done his best 

 to continuously present a good series of the 

 batrachians, the frogs, toads and salamanders. 

 The collection always on hand meets the re- 

 quirements of the student, but, at their best, 

 the majority of the batrachians make a poor 

 display, owing to their secretive habits. Dur- 

 ing the spring the metamorphoses of the frogs, 

 toads and the salamanders are fully displayed. 

 Of the rarer species exhibited it is appropriate 

 to mention the Golden Tree Frog, (Hyla 

 anrca), of Australia, Anderson's Tree Frog, 

 {H\ala andersoiii) . and the Brown Frog, 

 {Rana virgatipes). both of the eastern United 

 States: the South American Frog, {Lcpto- 

 dactylns pcntadactyhts) . the Surinam Toad, 

 {Pi'pa amcricana) and the South African 

 Smooth-Clawed Toads, (A'oio/'nj lacvis and A". 

 Clawed Toads, (Xcnopus laCvis and A'. 

 inucUcri). The Blind Salamander, {Proteus 

 augiiiuiis). has twice figured among our ex- 

 hibits. 



WORK OF THE REPTILE DEPARTMENT. 



It will be of interest to our members to give 

 a brief resume of work performed in the de- 

 partment during the past ten years. 



One of the branches of work has been the 

 preparation of manv semi-technical and popu- 

 lar articles that have appeared in our publica- 

 tions. It has been the intention of the writer 

 to produce as much practical matter as pos- 

 sible in order that our observations may have 

 a wide value. With this object always prima- 

 rily in view, he begs to refer, as results, to 

 his article on the growth and care of the 

 American alligator, pointing to the prac- 

 ticability of alligator farming, and appearing 

 in our Eleventh Annu.vl Report ; a series 

 of articles relating to the venomous snakes, 

 their habits and virulency and general dis- 

 tribution ; articles dealing with the diseases 

 and care of reptiles, with the breeding of rep- 

 tiles, best methods of exhibition and the ex- 

 periences of the collector in the field. Almost 

 synonymous with the matter for publication is 



the work of preparing labels, the great major- 

 ity of which are descriptive. While the greater 

 number of our labels are painted in oil, on 

 zinc, there is a generous number of labels 

 containing elaborate details, that are printed, 

 framed and protected with glass. In addition 

 to these labels there are colored maps and 

 charts showing the distribution of important 

 groups, or giving a simple and concise view of 

 classification. 



To answer the frequent queries of visitors, 

 a collection of skulls of reptiles illustrating 

 the differences in dentition between the non- 

 venomous and the poisonous species was 

 mounted and placed in a conspicuous position 

 on the main floor of the Reptile House. In 

 this case is exhibited the latest paraphernalia 

 employed in the treatment of snake-bites. The 

 exhibits in this cabinet are changed from time 

 to time, in order to emphasize anatomical 

 characteristics of the living specimens on ex- 

 hibition in the surrounding cages. All of the 

 skulls exhibited are prepared and mounted in 

 the Reptile House. 



In the routine work of maintaining our col- 

 lection of reptiles and in making this depart- 

 ment as attractive as possible, may be men- 

 tioned our surgical operations upon a number 

 of valuable specimens, and the successful 

 termination of the curator's endeavors to com- 

 bat the dreaded snake "canker" and necrosis 

 of the jaw. This work has often involved the 

 handling of the poisonous serpents, but we 

 have the satisfaction of realizing that about 

 eight years ago our very popular King Cobra 

 was cured from what at first appeared to be 

 a hopeless malady. One of the Indian Hooded 

 Cobras now on exhibition was likewise suc- 

 cessfully operated upon several times for 

 necrosis of the jaw-bone about five years ago. 



The very satisfactor\- process of force-feed- 

 ing several of the great pythons from the 

 Malay Peninsula and Borneo, which stub- 

 bornly evinced a dramatic inclination to starve 

 to death, is demonstrated by the ]3resence of 

 the splendid examples now occupying the 

 big central cage. It took two years of this 

 treatment to induce them to feed of their own 

 accord. 



