294 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
The name Phenix Park has no reference to Zoology. True 
the Viceroy, Lord Chesterfield, in 1745, erected in the park, at 
his own expense, a column thirty feet high, with the mythical 
bird on its summit flapping its wings over the flames; but Lord 
Chesterfield was a foreigner, a “ Sassenach,” who had only lived 
eight months in the country, and did not know that the real name 
was fion-whiskey, i.e. ‘‘clear-water,’ from a much-frequented 
chalybeate spring. 
Not far from this is the Zoological Garden, commonly called 
“the Zoo”; for although Irishmen have a greater gift of speech 
than Englishmen, they have in this case adopted their neighbour's 
short and convenient expression. The gardens, which are spacious, 
well-grown, and well-watered, were opened, I believe, on May 10th, 
1830, thus being one of the oldest of modern institutions of the 
kind. As may therefore be supposed, they are burdened with 
the usual defects of old gardens; besides which the damp 
climate is injurious to both wood and mortar, making Ireland 
aland of ruins. The trees grow with wonderful luxuriance; the 
ivy is beyond description; the country is a paradise of ferns and 
other cryptogams; one holly stem (Ilex aquifoliwm) measured 
20 centimetres in diameter. This luxuriant vegetation causes 
more shade and humidity than some tropical animals can bear. . 
Hence the larger animals, as in the old London and Paris 
Gardens, are allowed no out-door exercise. It would be unfair, 
however, to deny that at the date of my visit preparations 
were being made for an improvement in this respect. May they 
be continued—not abandoned after the first attempt, as is so 
often the case with Irish projects. * 
The Aquarium was in better condition—in fact, quite satis- 
factory. It is in a particularly roomy house, and contains both 
salt and fresh-water tanks. It forms a long right angle, and right 
and left against the walls are four smaller tanks; to the left three 
low open tanks, into which one can look down, and to the right 
one large open one, with the smaller tanks against the farther wall; 
while in the middle of the room is an isolated aquarium, which 
* Here follows an account of the animals observed in the Dublin Zoological 
Gardens, which, being probably well known to most of our readers, may be here 
omitted. The writer considered that more attention might be paid to the condition 
of the animals and to the cleanliness of the cages.—Ep. 
ii icitiitdiads ohne 
