ZOOLOGICAL SOCIKTV BULLETIN 



193 



families, the Felidce (Cats), Mustelidce (Marten, 

 Mink, Wolverine, and U'easel), and Viverriihc (the 

 Civets, Palm Cats, etc.). But there are various 

 large tropical rodents to be considered; and trop- 

 ical swine, tiie marsu])ials generally, and tropical 

 Canidce. 



It is not possible to provide a sc[)arate building 

 for each of the groups named without making a 

 vivarium a bewildering and tiresome place. Even 

 a zoological jiark can be overdone. We believe 

 there is wisdom in attaining a happy medium, and 

 in not offering the visitor entirely too much. 



In pursuance of this idea, the Zoological Society 

 has provided the Small-Mammal House. It repre- 

 sents an effort to assemble in one building the 

 small cats, the small fur-bearers generally of the 

 Family MusklidcB; the tropical foxes, jackals, and 

 vi'ild dogs; such large tropical rodents as the long- 

 quilled porcupines, and the cajjybara; such of the 

 tropical swine as are desirable for exhibition; a 

 limited number of kangaroos and other marsu- 

 pials, and last but not least in interest and impor- 

 tance, the anteaters and other edentates. 



We do not believe in having one building wholly 

 devoted to the small carnivora; for in spite of all 

 efforts, such buildings cannot be kept as wholly free 

 from animal odors as are our other animal build- 

 ings. Members of the Society are warned not 

 to expect it'. Many animals of the Marten Family, 

 such as the mink and muskrat, naturally emit a 

 musky od(jr, and the only way to prevent them 

 from doing so is to kill the animals and stutf them. 

 We belie\-e, however, that by the exercise of judg- 

 ment in the selection of species for exhibition, and 

 a fair understanding with the public regarding 

 the smaller carnivores, backed up Ijv the best 

 mechanical devices for the promotion of cleanli- 

 ness in the cages, we will be able to maintain the 

 small-mammal collection on a basis acceptable to 

 the public. 



The Small-Mammal House occupies the site of 

 the temporary building once u.sed for a similar 

 purpose. Its length over all is 150 feet, its inside 

 width 29 feet, and its outside width, including its 

 out.side cages, is 54 feet. The entire roof is of 

 glass, and the interior is as hght as an open field. 

 The building extends from north to south, and for 

 at least four hours daily each cage will receive a 

 flood of sunshine. 



.Altogether there are 176 cages, and they occupy 

 the whole of the side walls of the building, inside 

 and out. Those within are of three sizes, and 

 are placed as follows: 



.\11 along the eastern wall there are eighteen 

 cages, seven feet wide, five feet high. In the 

 centre of the western wall there are seventeen cages, 

 four feet wide by three and one-half feet high. At 

 the ends of the western wall there are thirty-two 

 cages, three and one-third feet wide, two and one- 

 half feet high. 



The total number of interior cages is eighty- 

 eight. 



With but one exception, all the cages of the in- 

 terior are duplicated on the exterior of the build- 

 ing, and the two series communicate through the 

 walls. In other words, each animal has an out- 

 side and an inside cage, with a passage connecting 

 the two, and two sliding doors between with which 

 to regulate conditions. If the sun is too hot, or 

 the air too cold, the interior affords shade or 

 warmth, as may be necessary. If in midsummer 

 the interior of the building becomes too hot for 

 the comfort of a fur-bearing animal, a cage in 

 the open air is made available by the pulling of a 

 chain. 



The exception to the rule of duplication between 

 the ins and the outs is found in the outside tier 

 of cages facing the east. These have been fx.- 

 panded into yards seven feet wide by tweh'e feet 

 long, floored with concrete. Each is provided at 

 the rear with an open-front shelter six feet deep, 

 roofed over against sun and rain, and floored with 

 wood raised a foot higher than the concrete. If 

 these yards fail to meet the views of the animals 

 for which they are intended — kangaroos, tropical 

 swine, and porcupines, capybaras, anteaters, and 

 such — then are they indeed difficult to please. 



It is so gratifying to find in another zoological 

 establishment a feature good enough to copy, thus 

 saving ourselves a little of the eternal grind of 

 invention and experiment, we can afford to make 

 prominent mention of all such cases. Few indeed 

 are the persons who know the extent to which the 

 Zoological Park has been invented, and hammered 

 out of the raw material. It gives us pleasure to 

 point out that the chief mechanical principles em- 

 ployed in the construction of the cages along the 

 western wall of the Small-Mammal House were 

 found in operation, in 1902, in the Zoological 

 Garden at Frankfort, Germany. The really ad- 

 mirable movable front, the movable floor, and the 

 sliding partitions of sheet metal, here employed, 

 were designed and worked out by Dr. A. Seitz, 

 the director of the Frankfort Garden. 



By means of Dr. Seitz's invention, it is possible 

 to remove in a few seconds the front, either side 



