THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 155 



prepared and the sanction of the Board of Works obtained 

 in 1869 ; but building operations were not commenced till 

 1875. To make room for this house the old deer sheds were 

 cleared away, and the contractors began their work in February. 

 Before the plans were made, Bartlett was sent by the Council 

 to inspect and report on the lion houses in Berlin, Amsterdam, 

 Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, and Paris ; and Dr. P. L- 

 Sclater, from his acquaintance with these and other Conti- 

 nental gardens, was able to make suggestions. 



The house is a massive brick structure, of good proportions, 

 but without architectural adornment. It is 228 ft. long, 30 ft. 

 high at the central elevation, and the floor- width to the front 

 of the dens is 35 ft. A good yard must be deducted from this 

 last measurement for the protecting barrier; but this loss of 

 floor-space is more than balanced by the accommodation for 

 spectators afforded by the stepped platform on the opposite 

 side. There are fourteen dens, each with an inner compart- 

 ment or sleeping place, so that animals may be exhibited in 

 pairs, and separated when necessary. The six larger dens have 

 a floor-space of 240 square feet; in the eight smaller ones the 

 area is 144 square feet. 



Between the dens and the barrier is a line of rails, on which 

 runs the meat-trolley so eagerly watched for by the great car- 

 nivores as feeding- time approaches. Halfway down the line^ 

 is an arched opening leading into the service passage behind, 

 which extends the whole length of the building. Here are 

 fixed the chains and pulleys that operate the doors between 

 the exhibition dens and the inner compartments, so that all 

 the business of cleaning and shifting is done from the back. 

 Opposite the arched opening from the house a short passage 

 leads into a yard, where travelling-boxes are unloaded. Here 

 they can be conveniently handled, taken into the passage, and 

 the animals transferred to the dens through one of the inner 

 compartments, each of which has a sliding door. 



At the beginning of 1876 the lion house was finished and 

 ready for occupation ; but the great beasts which were to 

 inhabit it were in the dens under the Terrace Walk, now 



* In the following scheme of the dens, s = small, l = large, and o = arched 

 opening : |l|sIs|s|8|l|l|o|l|s1s|s|s|l|l| 



