THE NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK AND ITS INHAB- 
LEANTS.* 
By Dr. Frank Baxker, 
Superintendent of National Zoological Park. 
[With 41 plates.] 
In the year 1890 Congress authorized the purchase of land for the 
establishment of a national zoological park, to be placed under the 
direction of the Smithsonian Institution. 
The site, about 167 acres in extent, was selected with much care 
and is very beautiful. From north to south, a distance of more than 
three-quarters of a mile, it is traversed by Rock Creek, a streamlet 
that winds through a valley inclosed by steep, tree-clad hills and 
cliffs of gray, moss-covered stone. At that time fewer than a dozen 
houses bordered upon it, and it was thought that its seclusion was 
complete. Even now, when by the growth of 20 years the city has 
nearly surrounded it, the shut-in valley, with its woods and stream, 
lies quiet and remote. 
The act establishing the park declared it to be for the “instruction 
and recreation of the people,” and every effort is made to meet this 
requirement. Thousands of children make it their happiest play- 
ground. Babies. dig in the sandboxes or sleep in the shade of the 
great trees; small boys and girls wade in the creek and scramble over 
the rocks; older ones play ball on the lawns in summer and skate on 
the ponds in winter; and all ages picnic by the tables or in the pleasant 
shade of the woods. Schools come in bodies to pursue their nature 
studies, and pupils training for teachers study the wild birds, the 
trees, shrubs, and animals. 
The National Zoological Park is a favorite resort for the pastime 
of egg-rolling on Easter Monday, as it has many extended slopes 
down which the eggs can roll and the children run until they are 
tired. The accompanying illustration (pl. 2), shows the appearance 
of the lion-house hill upon such a day, yet gives but a slight idea of 
the great crowds of children present. In order to find out the actual 
number of visitors, watchmen were stationed at each entrance on 
this day to record the persons passing in on foot and in earriages. 
1 Reprinted by permission from the Volta Review, Washington, D. C., July, 1912, and September, 1914. 
445 
