94 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 



charmers only used their own serpents, which they had, I presume, brought 

 with them ; and I confess that the impression upon my mitid was that they 

 had been rendered innoxious by mechanical means.* 



The Queen presented a gigantic land-tortoise, which was said, 

 no doubt with truth, to be nearly two hundred years old, but it 

 did not survive the winter. While the reptile was at Buckingham 

 Palace Owen was summoned thither to see it. In the presence 

 of the Prince Consort he proceeded to take its measure- 

 ments, and to obtain the girth conveniently he bestrode the 

 animal, which walked off with the Professor on his back. As he 

 rode along he continued his measurements, to the great amuse- 

 ment of the Prince, and the circumference came out at 12 ft. 

 In his tortoise ride in the garden of Buckingham Palace 

 Owen was more successful than Darwin in the Galapagos, for 

 the latter " found it very difficult to keep his balance." 



A pair of thylacines were presented by Mr. Ronald Gunn and 

 Dr. Grant of Van Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was then called. 

 The extreme rarity of this species and the difficulties of transport 

 had prevented any previous attempt to obtain examples of this 

 carnivorous marsupial — the zebra-wolf of the colonists, who set 

 a price on its head, because of its ravages among their sheep. 

 The Cape hyrax was another introduction of this year. 



In the spring the wedge- tailed eagle laid four eggs. Two 

 Avere successively put under a common hen, but both proved 

 addled after an incubation of about three weeks. The old birds 

 destroyed a third egg, and though the fourth was taken out by 

 the keepers, there was no attempt to get it hatched. 



Although not a rare species, the black stork in the aviaries 

 must not be omitted. It was famous in its day for its dexterity 

 in catching young sparrows. This " black philosopher," as 

 Broderip called it, stood for its portrait to most of the ornitho- 

 logical writers of that period. Its likeness illustrates the works 

 of Bennett, Gould, Meyer, Selby and Yarrell, and of course 

 finds a place in the indispensable " Manual." 



* In a later chapter (p. 388) the author says that *' there is no longer a shadow 

 of doubt " that these snakes had been deprived of their fangs. In Bartlett's ** Life 

 Among Wild Beasts in the Zoo " (p. 268) is an account of his removing the fangs of 

 cobras for some Indian snake-charmers. From the entrepreneur he received a few 

 cobras which would not feed, and soon died. On examination it was found that 

 their mouths had been neatly sewn up. 



