106 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1895. 



and fascinating chapters of both entomology and botany. But in- 

 sects may beccJme so numerous as to destroy the vegetation they are 

 intended only to fertilize or prune. Then we must have birds and 

 insectivorous animals to maintain the balance of nature. These in 

 turn may become too numerous, like the sparrows of England, or the 

 frogs of the Egyptian plagues. To keep these in check, we must 

 have' carnivorous animals. And so we have the satisfaction of find- 

 ing that nature hangs together in an endless chain. Things are 

 simplified by studying it one link at a time, and so our sciences come 

 to have an artificial separateness which does not exist in nature and 

 which it is well sometimes to ignore. This point of view must furnish 

 my reasons for not adhering more strictly to the botanical feature of 

 my theme. You could have no ideal botanical garden with nothing 

 but plants in it, and many of its most interesting features will be 

 found to lie in the border-land of mutual relations which subsist be- 

 tween animals and plants. 



Come with me for a moment into a garden and see for yourselves. 

 When we come out, we may compare observations and conclusions. 



By payment of an entrance fee of a franc in the city of Antwerp, 

 we may pass from the narrow, dirty streets and the red, burning 

 desert of brick houses and peaked roofs, piled one on top another, 

 into what? The change is so sudden, so unexpected, that it almost 

 takes our breath away. It might be the gate to fairy-land, paradise, 

 Eden, heaven. Call it anything you please. It is known as the 

 Zoological Garden of Antwerp. Under the trees and roses the hot, 

 stifling air of the city changes as by magic to softest and freshest 

 air imaginable. 



The iron gate, through which we have entered, opens into an ave- 

 nue of trees and flower beds. Along one side extends a high wall, 

 covered from top to bottom with dark-green ivy. On either side of 

 the entire walk is a row of tropical birds in the most varied and brill- 

 iant plumage, each lightly chained to his perch. In front, the main 

 garden opens up to view. Directly before us is an open grove with 

 an inconspicuous band pavilion in the centre and a small caf6 at one 

 side. All about, under arbors and trees, are innumerable plain chairs 

 and little tables. Beyond this grove, and scattered with apparent 

 carelessness about the gently undulating surface of the garden, are 

 other regular groups of trees. In and among them large animal-houses 

 are so artfully concealed as scarcely to intrude upon the view. Beauti- 

 ful fresh green lawns, with winding water-courses and tree-covered 

 islands, enlivened with swans and all manner of water-fowl. Here 



