300 mk. f. «• blaatjw on the [Mar. 20, 



In 1884 Bodinus died, leaving the Garden in great disorder ; 

 the buildings were entirely out of repair, the fences were rusty and 

 the animals were not properly kept. Other matters, moreover, did 

 not make things easy for his successor. In 1885 Dr. Bodinus was 

 succeeded by Dr. Max Schmidt, formerly Director of the Frankfurt 

 Zoological Garden, who, during the short time of his Directorship 

 (he died in 1888), had scarcely time to make many great reforms, 

 though he did much in the way of improving the administration. 

 Dr. °Schmidt was succeeded in 1888 by Dr. L. Heck, then 

 Director of the Zoological Garden of Cologne. On his arrival in 

 Berlin Dr. Heck found matters much as described above, and it 

 took him some years to get the difficulties put straight. This time 

 of difficulties, however, seems now to have come to an end, and 

 the " shower of gold " of the early years of Bodinus has apparently 

 returned in a still more copious form. 



During the last three or four years the greater number of the 

 old unsuitable houses and yards have disappeared and have been 

 replaced by new oues, iu which the animals can be kept better in 

 every way. Likewise the old "palaces" have been repaired, and 

 the interior arrangements have been greatly improved. 



The collection of animals is steadily increasing, and examples of a 

 great number of species which are not to be found in any other 

 continental garden are exhibited. In fact the number of species, 

 which amounted to about 600 when Dr. Heck arrived at Berlin, 

 has now been increased to double that number. 



Dr. Heck takes a special interest in geographical forms, and 

 many interesting series of varying species have been thus brought 

 together. The large Cats' House contains a very beautiful set of 

 Tigers of six geographical races, comprising specimens from 

 Bengal, Singapore, Eastern Siberia (Felis tigris longipilis), Northern 

 Persia (F. t. virgata), the Altai (F. t. mongolica), and Turkestan 

 (F. t. striata). Of special interest amongst these is the family of 

 Tigers from Eastern Siberia, as it comprises a splendid pair of adults 

 in perfect condition, and three young ones born in the Garden. 

 As the male is not kept separate from the female and young ones, 

 the whole group is very striking. The Persian Tigers are very 

 remarkable from their lion-like mane, which extends not only over 

 the neck but all along the breast and belly. The Leopard (Felis 

 leopardus) is represented by six different geographical forms, com- 

 prising specimens from the coast of German East Africa, from the 

 interior, from Togo, from Persia (Askabad) (Felis I. tulliana), from 

 Northern China (F. l.fontanieri), and from India. The F.fontanieri 

 is a splendid animal of great size, with a remarkably long rough coat 

 of greyish colour, on which the black marks, especially on the upper 

 side, are much less clearly defined than is usual with other Leopards. 

 This animal is said to have been presented, when quite a cub, to the 

 daughter of an English merchant by the Empress of China. It 

 was at first kept in the house as a pet, but when growing too large 

 it was parted with to a dealer, who in his turn sold it to Dr. Heck. 

 The Persian Leopard is also a very large, but at the same time a 



