454 The Smithsonian Institution 



mals, which had been contained in the previous appropria- 

 tion acts, was withdrawn, and it was evidently intended to re- 

 strict the operations of the park as much as possible. Indeed 

 the question of abolishing it altogether was at one time con- 

 sidered, but better counsels finally prevailed. This policy 

 naturally retarded to a considerable extent the growth so 

 auspiciously commenced. Instead of permanent structures 

 suited to the needs of each class of animals, temporary make- 

 shifts were necessarily erected, which, requiring to be fre- 

 quently repaired and renewed, involved in the end a waste 

 of public money. 



In no matter was this policy more injurious than in its 

 effect on the growth of the collection. It now became impos- 

 sible to procure specimens except by gifts, by transfer, or by 

 collecting them at great expense within the limits of govern- 

 ment preserves, like the Yellowstone National Park. Expe- 

 rience has shown that the increase by gifts is very precarious. 

 The animals given are, it is true, sometimes very valuable ; 

 often, however, they are diseased or defective in some way. 

 They are usually the random, accidental finds made by 

 chance sportsmen or curiosity hunters, and are, naturally, 

 more numerous in certain classes than in others. Numbers 

 of opossums, raccoons, and small alligators are yearly pre- 

 sented, but no one has ever thought of presenting a moose, a 

 caribou, a manatee, a sea-lion, or any of the important ani- 

 mals for the preservation of which the park was especially 

 instituted. 



The increase by transfer really amounts only to this, that 

 certain of the animals bred within the park may, if any one 

 chances to want them, be exchanged for others. Native 

 American animals are not much used in menageries, and 

 there is, therefore, but little demand for them. Slight use 

 has, therefore, been made of this privilege. 



