TEE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 177 



specimens of the different stages of metamorphosis were shown 

 in a box over the principal cases. One feature, somewhat 

 neglected of late years, was the development of aquatic insects, 

 as exemplified in dragon-fly larvae and caddis- worms. 



The most important insects from an economic point of 

 view were, of course, the various silk moths ; but it is worth 

 recording that one case contained plants infested with green-fl3% 

 with which were exhibited the larvae of the common ladybird 

 — the natural enemies of the fly, " which they seize with much 

 the same habit as a dog would a rat." 



For the first year the house was under the charge of 

 Mr. William Watkins, who prepared the Guide, and in 1882 it 

 was taken over by Mr. Arthur Thomson, described by Dr. Sclater 

 as "one of the Superintendent's principal Assistants," whose 

 valuable aid in the preparation of the second (and last) edition 

 of the Guide-Book was acknowledged. Early in the year Mr. 

 Thomson presented a report on the work, and exhibited the 

 more important insects reared or presented. 



The reserve shed for duplicates and stock requiring seclusion 

 was built in 1882 at the rear of the cattle sheds ; and at the 

 end of the fish house — for so the Aquarium was now called — 

 the tank was put up to show the movements of diving birds 

 (such as auks, guillemots, and penguins) under water. On 

 account of diminishing receipts from the Gardens there had 

 been some idea of postponing the works for the new reptile 

 house; but as the admissions increased in 1882, the contract 

 was signed in August and the building commenced. In the 

 Middle Garden shelter was provided for the kangaroos by fixing 

 a glass roof to the sheds opposite the lecture hall. 



In August, 1883, the reptile house was completed, stocked, 

 and opened to the public. The building is 160 ft. long by 60 ft 

 wide, and has keepers' rooms at the rear, and in front a porch 

 with an entrance at each end. In this porch, in movable cages 

 are kept lizards, toads, and frogs that do not need a high 

 temperature. Three sides of the hall are fitted with large glass- 

 fronted cages carried on a slate platform which forms a chamber 

 for the hot-water pipes, so that the heat is confined, as far as 

 possible, to the cages. The glass fronts are fixed, and the only 

 access for feeding or cleaning is by a sHding door worked from 



M 



