72 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



held their own. The Small Mammal House has suffered severely, 

 the Elephant House has had, during the last four years, three 

 serious losses, and the Antelope House collection has badly 

 fallen off. 



On the other hand, the Lion House is close up to high-water 

 mark, and the kangaroos and hoofed stock in the Small Deer 

 House seem at their best. 



It is no exaggeration to say that the animals sent to Belgium 

 are not missed. Some of them were specially purchased for that 

 gift, and others were duplicates that could be spared. 



Our greatest loss during 1919 was Sultana, the female Afri- 

 can elephant from the Blue Nile. Although originally as large 

 as the male, Kartoum, the rapid growth of her mate soon left her 

 far behind in size. Her troubles began with an awkward and 

 unnecessary fall that she managed to have on the sloping runway 

 leading from her cage to her yard. In that seemingly trifling 

 accident she broke two ribs, and also broke off the external con- 

 dyle of her right femur, a really preposterous accident for an 

 elephant. 



That break resulted in a long and painful lameness in that 

 hind leg, during which the animal threw so much weight on the 

 left leg that the left foot became inflamed, and suppurated to a 

 very serious extent. Finally, Sultana came down, never to rise 

 again. A great effort was made to raise her and support her, 

 but she was too weak and helpless. Her troubles were ended by 

 a rifle bullet through her brain. 



Other serious losses by death were Toto, the orang-utan, a 

 sitatunga, a Mongolian horse, a springbuck, two sea lions, and a 

 number of kangaroos and deer of several species. 



The persistent and quick fatalities among the small mam- 

 mals purchased of dealers were quite exasperating and at times 

 unaccountable. 



The accessions during the year were few and unimportant. 

 The most noteworthy was the birth of the pygmy hippopotamus. 



The health of the mammals as a whole throughout the year 

 has been excellent. There were no epidmics, and an almost ir- 

 reducible minimum of tuberculosis. 



