430 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1907. 
air; the roof has wide windows, and the upper part of the partition 
separating the outside from the inside cayes is itself of glass. 
The Carnivora, about 60 in number, are scattered about in at least 
ten different buildings. The most important of these is the lion 
house, constructed in 1901, and called the Roberts House, after Lord 
Roberts, a former president of the society. This building, which 
cost but little more than 100,000 francs (pls. Iv and v), was built 
and arranged according to data taken from the best examples in 
Europe and America. It consists of a main building inclosing a 
large hall 6 to 7 meters wide, covered with glass, with cages upon 
both sides. Each cage is 3.20 meters wide, 2.60 meters deep, and 
from 2 meters to 2.70 meters high; the upper part of the back wall 
is of red brick, the lower of white glazed brick; the lower part of the 
sides is of wood painted black, the upper part of sheet iron painted 
yellow; the ceiling and the front are of grill work; the floor, 1 meter 
above the ground, is of wood and slopes toward a large gutter that 
runs along in front of the cages. ‘There are three or four large ex- 
terior cages and a lateral annex that conducts to the old lion house, 
now used as a nursery. It is in this latter house that have been con- 
ducted the important rearing of lions that have rendered the Dublin 
Garden so celebrated. 
This rearing of lions commenced as far back as 1855, when the 
garden bought two animals from Natal that became the ancestors 
of a whole series of generations of Irish lions. In 1858, three years 
after their arrival in Dubhn, this pair had a first litter of a single 
cub, the same year a second litter of 4 cubs, and the next year a third 
litter of 5. From this last litter came Old Girl, a lioness celebrated 
at Dublin, who lived for sixteen years in the garden and died there 
after having given birth to 55 cubs in 13 litters. 
Up to 1885 there had been born in the garden 131 cubs from 4 lions 
and 9 lionesses; 21 of these cubs died, either at birth or while under 
maternal care; 13 died afterwards; 89 were sold, bringing £3,247 10s. 
(an average of £36 per capita); 5 were kept for breeding purposes, 
and the remaining 3 I have not been able to follow. Toward the end 
of this period another honess, Queen, was born, who has given birth 
to 28 cubs. 
From 1874 to 1878 there was an interruption in the births due to 
the fact that the male kept for reproduction had not yet reached 
puberty. Soon the births resumed their normal frequency up to 
1893 or 1894. From this time for five or six years they fell off, and 
this could only be attributed to the weakness of the breeding animals. 
It had been the custom of the administration to keep for breeding 
only Irish males, always mating them with foreign females so as 
to avoid the possible disadvantages of consanguinity. It was thought 
best in this instance to completely renew the blood by purchasing 
