156 THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



occupied by bears and hyenas. Flitting was by no means a 

 simple matter; Bartlett has left it on record that numerous 

 suggestions and ridiculous propositions were made to him for 

 carrying out this interesting and, to a certain extent, dangerous 

 performance. " Some people," he wrote, " advised that the 

 animals should be chloroformed ; others that springs and chain 

 collars should be used, which, with a sufficient number of men 

 on either side, would be a most simple and easy mode of 

 transport ; while one other suggestion was that an iron tunnel 

 should be erected for them to run through." 



So many applications — not a few of them from Fellows of 

 the Society — for permission to witness the transference of the 

 animals to their new quarters were received by the authorities, 

 that it was found necessary to give public notice that the work 

 would be done before the Gardens were opened. 



We are requested [said the Times of January 17, 1876] to state that 

 such delicate operations can only be carried on when the Gardens are free 

 from visitors, ... It seems to have been imagined by some people that 

 the lions and tigers would be led out by the keepers, with chains round 

 their necks like house dogs, and transferred simultaneously into their new 

 abode in a kind of procession, with, perhaps, the superintendent at its 

 head to lead the way ; but such is not the established mode of procedure. 



The operations began on January 15, and most of the 

 animals were shifted on that day, though the removal of a few 

 of them was not effected till the following week. 



Bartlett's description is quoted from "Wild Animals in 

 Captivity" : 



There was placed in front of the door of the cage of the lion or tiger 

 that was about to be removed a narrow shifting or travelling den ; no 

 attempt was made to force or drive the animal into this den, the door of 

 which was open, facing the open door of the old cage. The animal was 

 tempted to enter the shifting den by his food being offered to him at the 

 far end ; but as it was uncertain how long it would take to induce the 

 beast to venture into the temporary den, the men who were employed to 

 carry out the removal were not kept waiting until the animal thought 

 proper to do so, but went about their work. When the beast had made up 

 his mind and walked into the travelling cage, the keeper in attendance 

 closed the door immediately behind him, and the bell in the clock-tower 

 was rung as a signal to the other men that the animal had been trapped. 



