TEE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



215 



hurchelli). Probably the foal died soon after birth, for there 

 does not appear to be any reference to it in the Society's 

 literature. It is, however, worth recording, for the neglect to 

 utilise the fine series of zebras and wild asses in this direction 

 was about the end of the century frequently cited as a reproach. 

 Sally, the famous chimpanzee, died in 1891, also the African 

 rhinoceros purchased in 1868. In the following year the male 

 giraffe, purchased in 1879, was lost by death. As was shown in 

 the table on p. 64, the last giraffe descended from the original 

 herd was born March 17, 1867, and died on June 20, 1881. It 

 is sometimes said that the original herd died out in 1892 ; but 

 the animals enumerated below, as having lived in the Menagerie, 

 had no strain of what may be called the Thibaut blood : 



Thus, on the date last given, for the first time since the 

 arrival of Thibaut's giraffes on May 25, 1836, the Society was 

 without any representative of this remarkable mammal The 

 Soudan was closed by the Mahdists, and Dr. Sclater said at 

 the Scientific Meeting of April 5, that so far as he could make 

 out, "with the exception of a single old female, for which an 

 exorbitant price was demanded, there were no living giraffes 

 in the market." 



A good deal of excitement was caused in October, 1894, 

 by the fact that a boa swallowed its cage-mate, and the reptile 

 was popularly known as the " cannibal boa." On the evening 

 of October 5 the keeper (Tyrrell) put two pigeons into the 

 den, and saw that the larger reptile seized one of the birds, 

 after which he closed the house and left the Gardens. On 

 the next morning he found that the smaller boa had dis- 

 appeared, while the other was enormously increased in size ; 



