24 



apparent impossibility of transporting these animals from 

 the distant waters of the Upper Nile to deter them from 

 taking the measures on which they resolved in 1848. The 

 arrival of the first Hippopotamus in 1850 gave an impulse 

 to public opinion in favour of the Society's establishment, 

 which has continued without abatement to the present 

 time ; and, as there is now some probability that in the 

 course of next year the Hippopotamus will be added to 

 the list of species which have reproduced in the establish- 

 ment, the interest which still attaches to these singular 

 animals AA'ill not by any means be diminished. 



The RuMiNANTiA contain a long series of animals re- 

 markable for the most part on account of their beauty, as 

 well as on account of their utility to man — requiring a 

 large space for their successful conservation, and therefore 

 presenting certain difficulties in an establishment of so 

 limited an area as that on which the Vivarium is placed. 



The Camels are, however, fully represented : both spe- 

 cies exist in the collection — the Bactrian Camel being a 

 young female born in the camp of the Royal Engineers, 

 before Sebastopol, in the month of February, 1855. 



The Llamas are fully represented j and the Deer have 

 been especially attended to, not only on account of their 

 picturesque beauty, but on account of the facility with 

 which this cosmopolitan family adapts itself to the climate 

 of Europe. 



The number of species now living in the Vivarium might 

 be considerably increased if space permitted. The course 

 which has been taken with the Wapiti and Hog Deer by 

 Lord Hastings, and with the Barbary Deer and Sambur 

 Deer by Viscount Hill, who possesses these species in con- 

 siderable numbers at Melton Constable, and at Hawkstone, 

 demonstrates the facility with which exotic Deer, with the 

 exception perhaps of a few tropical species, may be suc-^ 

 cessfuUy introduced into an English park. 



The state of the Society's collection gives hope that in 

 a few years they may be able to send out individuals of 

 C. loaUichii and C. duvaaceUii in sufficient numbers to en- 

 sure the acclimatization of those desirable species also. In- 

 dependently of the brilliant summer coat of C. duvaucellii, 

 or Barasingha, the fine points in its form indicate a quality 

 of venison which will make it doubly valuable, and as use- 

 ful as it is beautiful. 



The Giraffes have been treated with uniform success, 



