36 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



site to town." Flower-beds were laid out, and the Horticul- 

 tural Society was very liberal in sending supplies for this 

 purpose. An account of the stock puts the number of species 

 and varieties belonging to the Society at 194, of which G9 were 

 "quadrupeds," i.e. mammals, and 125 birds; there were 152 

 examples of the mammalian and 475 of the avian species, so 

 that the collection consisted of 627 animals, of which the larger 

 portion was in the Garden. There were few that would be 

 considered rare at the present day, but some of the "larger 

 and stronger quadrupeds" were promised as soon as dens 

 and enclosures could be prepared for them. 



In March the first Guide was drawn up, at the request of 

 the Council, by Vigors and Broderip, and the style of the latter 

 is clearly perceptible. The following passage, describing the 

 raccoon, certainly did not come from Vigors's pen : 



Strange stories are told of its fishing for crabs with its tail, and 

 opening oysters with its feet ; and Pennant says " that it loves strong 

 liquors, and will get excessively drunk."* It seems to be attached to 

 good cheer in general, from " 'Possum up a gum tree " t to sugar cane, 

 and appears to have a penchant for turtle ; for our friend here, who 

 is extremely amiable, playful and caressing, was admitted one day into 

 a room with a land tortoise, which he no sooner saw than he flew at 

 it with the zeal of an alderman. 



This was edited and added to before publication. Several 

 editions appeared, the last being probably that of October. The 

 title runs thus : List | of | The Animals | in | The Garden | of 

 the I Zoological Society | With Notices Kespecting Them : | 

 and I A Plan of the Garden | Showing the Buildings, Enclosures 

 and Places in which | the Animals are kept | October 31st, 

 1829. I Seventh Publication. | From this one may get a fairly 

 good idea of the GardenJ and Menagerie stock, especially if the 

 plan be compared with Plate 3. 



Fellows signed their names in a book kept in the lodge (1) 



* " Arctic Zoology," p. 69. (This note and the next are from the Guide.) 

 f See — or rather hear | the Carmen Zoologicum of the egregious Matthews : 

 'Possum up a gum tree, Raccoon in a hollow, 

 Catch him by him long tail ! How him whoop and halloo 1 ! 

 X At first the singular form was correct, for only a portion of what is now 

 the South Garden was opened. When the tunnel was made and the North (now 

 the Middle) Garden laid out and stocked, the plural form was used. 



