r34 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



pets at close r.iiiiic. At tlic ciui of a in 

 of tlir seals had gaiiitd tlirci- poiint 



'I'hc male died very suddenly on the night of 

 January 22. A ])ost mortem examination made 

 at tile American iMuseum of Natural History, 

 where the skin is to be mounted, revealed kidney 

 disease as the cause of death. His weight, 

 thirty-one j)Ounds, taken at this time, showed 

 tliat he had gained about seven pounds in the 

 two months of his life at the Aquarium. 



The female, weighed at the end of the sec- 

 ond month, showed an increase in weight of six 

 pounds in the same period. At the present time 

 she is apparently in the best of health, consum- 

 ing her three pounds of fish at a meal in a man- 

 ner to prove that she possesses a good appetite. 

 Practically the whole daj- is spent in swimming 

 and it is a delight to the eye to watch the active 

 and graceful movements displayed as she swims 

 about the tank or leaps upon the platform only 

 to take another plunge. Her swimming move- 

 ments are by far the most graceful of any ani- 

 mal we have ever had on exhibition. The front 

 flippers are used almost entirely in swimming. 

 The stroke begins nearly at right angles with 

 the body and the flipjiers are carried back along 

 the sides and over the belly until they almost 

 meet. The hind limbs serve for steering and in 

 preserving the balance. Swimming on the back 

 is the usual method, but this position is re- 

 versed when coming to the surface to breathe. 

 When resting at the surface the back is vipper- 

 most and the hind flijipers are spread out to pre- 

 serve the e(|uilibrium, but when sleeping in the 

 water the hind flij)i)ers are more or less doubled 

 forward and the seal reposes on its side with the 

 tip of the nose out of water. R. C. O. 



THE average individ- 

 ual possesses a dee)) 

 and very natural in- 

 terest, not to say curios- 

 ity, in animals of unus- 

 ual size, either very 

 large or very small. The 

 Zoological Park affords 

 the means of satisfying 

 tliis curiosity in regard 

 to the larger animals in 

 the living state, while 

 certain of the larger 



forms of living fishes may be seen in tlie Aquar- 

 ium. The American Museum of Xatural His- 

 tory and the Brooklyn Museum sujjply the de- 

 sired information in regard to the larger forms 

 by means of preserved material. The museums 

 also have attempted to satisfy the desire for 

 knowledge of the smaller animals by the con- 

 struction of enlarged models. 



It is but rarely, however, that the average 

 person is able to obtain a view of these smaller 

 animals alive, through a microscope or even a 

 lens. For this reason the Aquarium has in- 

 stalled a number of lens exhibits of small ani- 

 mals. For a couple of years a single exhibit of 

 mosquito larvae behind a large reading glass 

 has been in operation and this attracted so much 

 attention that the idea of exhibiting various 

 forms of the smaller invertebrates in the same 

 manner suggested itself. Accordingly, first 

 one, and later four more exhibits were ar- 



