Saunders' News-Letter, Wednesday, May 7, 1856.] 



ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 

 (twenty-fourth year). 



The Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Zoological 

 Society was held in the Royal Dublin Society House, 

 Kildare Street, yesterday. 



John G. Rathbourne, Esq., in the Chair. 



Dr. Ball read the following Report, which was 

 unanimously adopted : — 



' The Council has much satisfaction in reporting to 

 the Society that its progress during the year just 

 terminated has been highly encouraging and satisfactory. 



It will be seen by the return appended to the Report 

 that the main object of the Society, viz., the giving of 

 rational recreation to the people, has been attained, 

 138,290 persons having visited the Gardens last year, 

 being a larger number than has yet been recorded in any 

 like period. 



Considerable improvements and additions have been 

 made with a view to the increase of the collection; houses, 

 offices and aviaries have been re-built or repaired, and 

 some new structures have been erected, viz., a new 

 range of cages for the vultures, a commodious house for 

 the parrots, and a reptile house with the necessary 

 heating apparatus. A considerable improvement has 

 been effected in the repository for Carnivora, in which 

 the Lions, etc., are kept ; a passage has been formed 

 through it. which will greatly facilitate the progress of 

 visitors, who hitherto suffered inconvenience by having 

 to force their way back through the incoming crowd. 

 They now pass on through an extensive rosary which 

 has just been planted ; from this they come upon the 



