440 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1907. 
hot-air conduits shallow receptacles for water which by evaporating 
imparts the necessary humidity; the spray of the fountains in the 
central hall also assists. Besides, the floor of the central hall is 
washed and watered freely every evening. The floors and walls of 
the cages are cleaned every day and washed from time to time with 
cresoline. 
The reptiles, batrachians, and fishes are placed in a house of recent 
construction (opened in May, 1906), which also excited our admira- 
tion. The walls of this house are in great part made of the Falcon- 
nier glass bricks, while the roof is of ground glass, so that light is 
diffused throughout the rooms, which are three in number, a central 
and two lateral ones. 
The central hall (pl. v1), which is first entered, is decorated with 
paintings and ornamented with great clumps of papyrus and cypress; 
in the middle, surrounded by a grill, is a basin of water (which may 
be warmed) with a central island having gradually sloping edges on 
which may bask the inhabitants of the basin—crocodiles from the 
Nile and from Java, caimans from the Mississippi, an enormous mont- 
tor lizard from Java, and several species of tortoises. 
In the lateral rooms there are, in the center, large cages for boas 
and pythons; along the sides, against the Falconnier bricks, are nu- 
merous little cages, miniature conservatories, and aquariums of vari- 
ous sizes placed one against the other about 1 meter above the floor. 
Beneath these installations, separated from the public corridor by 
glazed brick, run the water pipes which afford heat during winter. 
The small cages are supplied with moss and green plants, and each 
has, in one corner, a little basin for water which may be filled or 
emptied by cocks accessible from below. These cages contain batra- 
chians and lizards; a chameleon had just laid some eggs on the moss 
at the time I passed by. 
A description of the Rotterdam Garden is not complete without a 
mention of the infirmary and the granary. The former serves not 
only as an infirmary but also as a quarantine for animals that arrive 
at the garden. Upon arrival they are placed in separate chambers, 
easy to heat and disinfect, under the charge of a skilled attendant. 
This isolation gives them an opportunity to rest after their journey 
and has also two other advantages: First, by keeping the animals 
for some time it assures that they were not affected with any con- 
tagious disease when they arrived; then it makes it possible to free 
them from internal and external parasites, which they might convey 
to the other animals. 
The granary is particularly well conceived. Built after the designs 
of Mr. Biittikofer, it prevents wastage of grain and loss of time and 
permits the storekeeper to easily supervise the keepers who come for 
food for the animals. Each kind of grain is placed in a bin filled 
from the story above and containing the supply necessary for one 
