154 THE ZOOLOQIGAL SOCIETY. 



house for " some of the more delicate monkeys, birds, and 

 reptiles, which thrive only when kept in a continuously high 

 temperature." 



After the opening of this strip what had been the North 

 became the Middle Garden. Here the construction of the 

 bridge necessitated the removal of an old aviary, which stood 

 opposite the north end of the tunnel. This must have been 

 one of the first buildings, for it is figured in a tail-piece in 

 Bennett's "Gardens and Menagerie of the Zoological Society," 

 which appeared in 1830, but it then served as a squirrel cage. 

 Owing to the institution of the Davis Lectures, the old Picture 

 Gallery was fitted up as a lecture-hall, and was employed for 

 this purpose till 1899. In the following year the lectures were 

 given in the meeting- room at No. 3, Hanover Square. 



One may imagine the terror that would be caused if the 

 animals in a menagerie should escape. Early on the morning 

 of October 2, 1874, A. D. Bartlett, and the assistant keepers 

 sleeping in the Gardens, had reason to apprehend] something of 

 the kind. Four barrels of gunpowder exploded on board the 

 barge Tilbury on the Regent's Canal, just under the bridge at 

 the end of Avenue Road. The shock was severely felt along 

 the canal bank, and fragments of the barge were afterwards 

 picked up by the Superintendent between his office and the 

 elephant house. No serious damage was done, though it was 

 reported to the Council that "no house had entirely escaped 

 injury." Large quantities of glass were broken, and frames 

 and sashes displaced and shattered. The western aviary in the 

 South Garden suffered a good deal ; some of the smaller birds 

 made their way out, but most of them were captured and 

 brought back. According to the Annual Register, "the ex- 

 plosion caused considerable commotion among the animals, 

 and their howling added considerably to the excitement which 

 the disaster caused in the neighbourhood." Fortunately, none 

 of the large animals was injured; and though they were 

 greatly terrified, they soon became quiet when the keepers 

 arrived. In the following year compensation was made by 

 the Grand Junction Canal Company, the owners of the barge. 



The erection of the new lion house in the South Garden 

 was the most important work of this decade. Plans had been 



