40 



March 27, 1832. 

 John Edvvard Gray, Esq., in the Chair. 



A Report from Deveieux Fuller, the Head Keeper, vvas read. It 

 was communicated to the Committee by the President. 



It referred to the experiments on the' feeding of carnivorous Mam- 

 malia lecommended by the Committee on Dec. 13, 1831, (Part I., 

 p. 164,) and subseąuently ordered by the Council to be tried. The 

 animals subjected to the experiment were two Leopards and two 

 Hy(Enas: the whole of them were malęs. 



On Jan. 1 1 the Leopards were weighed. No. 1 vveighed 9Ilbs, : 

 it was fed in the usual manner with 4lbs. of beef daily in one meal 

 given in the evening. No. 2 weighed 100|lbs. : it vvas supplied with 

 21bs. of beef at eight o'clock in the morning, and with a likę ąuantity 

 at the šame hour in the evening daily. On Feb. 16,(after an intervai 

 of five weeks,) they were again weighed. No. 1 hadgained in vĮ^eight 

 11b. : No. 2 had diminished in vi^eight |lb. No alteration vvas ob- 

 served in the latter animal as regarded his daily exercise ; but he be- 

 came more ferocious than he had previously been, and vvas particu- 

 larly violent. 



On Dec. 23 the HycEnas \vere weighed. No. 1 weighed 861bs. : it 

 was fed as usual with 3lbs. of beef daily at one meal in the evening. 

 No. 2 vveighed 931bs. : it vvas supplied vvith the šame ąuantity of beef 

 daily, divided into tvvo eąual portions, one of vvhich vvas given in the 

 morning and the other in the evening. On Feb. 16, (after an inter- 

 vai of eight weeks,) they were again vveighed; and No. 1 was found 

 to have increased in weight 11b., vvhile No. 2 had diminished in 

 weight 11b. The latter animal was observed to take less exercise than 

 he had previously been accustomed to, and slėpt more than usual : 

 his temper was not affected, and he did not exhibit unusual signs of 

 hunger. 



During the continuance of the experiment all the animals were 

 fasted one day in each week in common with the other carnivorous 

 species kept in the Menagerie. 



From these experiments it appears 'that carnivoroiis Mammalia fed 

 with tvvo nieals daily, do not continue in eąuallvgood condition vvith 

 those vvhich have the šame ąuantity of flesh daily in one meal only. It 

 further appears that in one instance (that of the Leopard,) the temper 

 changed for the vvorse, and thus animals of the genus Felis might be- 

 come more dangerous in a Menagerie from the ferocity they vvould 

 acąuire under such treatment ; and that in another instance the habits 

 were altered as regarded exercise, a diminution of vvhich, in confined 



[No. XVII,] ZooL. Soc. Proceedings of the Comm. of Science. 



