THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 217 



the male Grevy's zebra, belonging to Queen "Victoria. On 

 Whit Monday, June 4, the animal, with the mare, was in the 

 paddock ; when the keepers opened the house the next morning 

 he was lying on the ground dead, just where he had fallen 

 while feeding, for he had some hay in his mouth. Examination 

 of the cadaver showed that the zebra was much older than had 

 been supposed. Soon after this, at the wish of the late Queen, 

 the mare was sent to Windsor, where it remained till the 

 menagerie stock was sent to the Gardens by the King. A fine 

 portrait of this zebra, exhibited by Miss Nellie Hadden at 

 the Modern Gallery, was presented by the artist to the Society, 

 and is hung in the meeting-room. The animal is still in the 

 Gardens. 



Mention must be made of the reception at the Gardens in 

 1898 of the members of the Fourth International Congress 

 of Zoology, held at Cambridge. Owing to the illness of the 

 President the members and their friends were received by the 

 Council. The Hon. Walter Rothschild's fine collection of giant 

 tortoises was shown on the lawn, and circulars giving particulars 

 of the species, with the size and weight of each reptile, were 

 distributed among the guests. Unfortunately, the stormy 

 weather marred the success of this meeting. It is perhaps 

 worth mention that the status of the Superintendent and the 

 desirability of appointing someone with qualifications at least on 

 a par with those of directors of Continental Gardens of the first 

 rank, were informally discussed by some English zoologists 

 during the Congress as an abstract question, and without any 

 idea that the change was to come so soon, or that, when it came, 

 candidates would be invited to submit their claims to the 

 consideration of a committee. 



The Prince of Wales (now King Edward VIL), accompanied 

 by the Duke and Duchess of York (now the Prince and Princess 

 of Wales), visited the Gardens in May, 1899. There was another 

 Royal visit in June, 1900, when the King and the present heir 

 to the throne inspected a small collection of the Indian animals 

 recently presented to the latter and deposited in the care of the 

 Society. Among these was a lion from Kathiawar, a valuable 

 acquisition to the Menagerie, where only African lions had been 

 exhibited for some years. 



