II 



number of permanent attendants, is the erection of Check 

 Turnstile Gates at the entrance to the Gardens. The atten- 

 tion of the Council was called in 1831 by the Auditors of 

 the Accounts to the expediency of establishing a mechanical 

 check on the admissions ; and the subject having been again 

 brought under their notice by the Committee of Finance, the 

 system was resolved on during the past year. It has now 

 been in effective operation for several months, with one short 

 interval for the purpose of rendering the gates more conve- 

 nient. With this alteration at the entrance others have been 

 combined which have materially improved its appearance 

 and given to it a more permanent character. 



The remaining works have been chiefly those of horticul- 

 tural embellishment, and have included the formation of new 

 walks, the dressing of the Gardens generally, the creation of 

 new borders, and the complete laying out of the eastern por- 

 tion of the South Garden. Many additional plants and shrubs 

 of beauty and interest have been obtained, and their preser- 

 vation has been insured by an improved appropriation of the 

 Gardener's Yard, and by the enlargement of the Conservatory 

 to an extent more suitable to the necessities of an ornamental 

 Garden of so much importance. 



The 



Menagerie 



has preserved since the last Anniversary the high interest 

 which has attached to it for several years, on account of the 

 number, the variety, and (in many instances) the rarity of the 

 animals which have been included in it. The number of in- 

 dividuals has not, at any time, been less than 1000 : on the 

 present day it amounts to 1034, exclusive of the Water-fowl 

 on the Lake in the Regent's Park. The number of Mam- 

 malia is 296 ; that of Birds, 717; and that of Reptiles, 2 1 . 

 The number of species and marked varieties of Mammalia 

 now existing in the Gardens is 132; that of Birds, 194. 



