practical value of the Collection or the sacrifice of a single 

 species. 



The decrease which took place in the receipts at the 

 Garden gates amounted to £14,319, and was to a certain 

 extent anticipated by the Council, as the extraordinary 

 circumstances of the summer of 1851 had raised the 

 I'eceipts of that year to an excess which could not be ex- 

 pected to recur. 



It appears, however, that these circumstances have had a 

 scarcely less extraordinary effect in a contrary direction as 

 regards the amount of money paid for recreation by the 

 inhabitants of London in 1852 ; and in all places of public 

 resort and amusement the visitors have fallen considerably 

 short of the numbers of ] 850 and some preceding years. 

 But it seems probable, from such facts as have come to the 

 knowledge of the Council, that the Zoological Society 

 have suffered less in this respect than almost any other 

 Institution. 



And it is worthy of notice, in corroboration of this state- 

 ment, that in the official return to the House of Commons 

 of the numbers of persons admitted to visit the British 

 Museum during the year 1852, a decrease of upwards of 

 2,000,000 is recorded in the comparison between that year 

 and 1851, and of 590,000 in the comparison with 1850. 



The decrease which took place in the Visitors to the 

 Society's Garden in 1852 as compared with these years 

 was 362,040 and 55,199 respectively. 



That is to say, the decrease of visitors to the British 

 Museum, where the admission is gratuitous, between the 

 years 1852 and 1851, amounted to 400 per cent., while the 

 decrease of visitors to the Gardens of the Zoological 

 Society only amounted to 115 per cent. 



And the decrease at the British Museum, between the 

 years 1852 and 1850, amounted to 100 per cent., while the 

 decrease at the Zoological Society's Gardens only amounted 

 to 15 per cent. 



It is evident from the gross receipts up to the present 

 period, that the Income of the current year may be 

 reckoned on as fully equal to that of 1852 in all other 

 sources, and as there is good ground of hope that the 

 adverse circumstances which diminished the Garden 

 Receipts in the months of June, July and August of last 

 year will not recur in the ensuing season, the Council trust 

 that in their next Report they will be able to arrive at a 



