THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 85 



Among the birds exhibited for the first time was a roseate 

 spoonbill, a fact overlooked when three others were purchased 

 in August, 1870, for they are described as " the first received 

 alive by the Society." 



Jenny the orang— Lady Jane she is called in the " List " of 

 1844 — was a famous animal, but there were two orangs living 

 in the Menagerie within a short period of each other and known 

 by these names. The animal purchased on November 25, 

 1837, Hved till May 7, 1839, and was probably the Jenny of 

 Broderip's article in the New Monthly Magazine of January, 

 1838 ; and must certainly be the orang referred to in Mrs. Owen's 

 Diary, under date of March 11, 1838, as having been brought 

 out for inspection by the Duchess of Cambridge, as there 

 was such a crowd round the cage. There is, however, some 

 confusion as to sex. Another, purchased in May, 1838, only 

 lived till the following October. The Jenny to which the name 

 properly belongs was bought on December 13, 1839, and proved 

 a great attraction during its captivity, which was ended by 

 death on October 10, 1843. This orang was a special favourite 

 with Owen and his wife, who were constant visitors at the 

 Gardens. In her Diary, ^ in the summer of 1842, Mrs. Owen 

 wrote : 



We saw Jenny Lave her cup of tea again. It was spooned and 

 sipped in the most ladylike way, and Hunt, the keeper, put a very 

 smart cap on her head, which made it all the more laughable. Hunt 

 told me that a few days ago the Queen and Prince Albert were highly 

 amused with Jenny's tricks, but that he did not like to put the cap 

 on the orang, as he was afraid it might be thought vulgar ! 



They paid the animal a Christmas visit in 1842, and recorded 

 its affection for Hunt. An entry of February 8, 1844, shows 

 that this was reciprocated. Hunt, then looking after some 

 of the carnivora, told Mrs. Owen that "he would far sooner 

 have his poor Jenny." The diarist added a note : " He was so 

 much cut up about her death that he could hardly pronounce 

 her name." 



The Council's Report for 1843, in recording her death, 

 remarked that she was " an old favourite with most visitors to 

 the Gardens, where she was an inmate for [nearly] four years, 



* *' Life ol Eichard Owen," i. 193, 194. 



