34 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XX. No, 493 



SCIENCE: 



A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER OF ALL THE ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



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 york. 



LION BREEDING. 



BY DR. V, BALL, C.B., F.E.S , HONORARY SECRETARY ROYAL ZOOLOBI- 

 CAL SOCIETY OF IRELAND. 



The breeding of lion cubs commenced in the gardens of 

 the Eoyal Zoological Society of Ireland in the year ]857, 

 and has been continued through an unbroken descent to the 

 end of 3891, or for thirty five years; from which, if we sub- 

 tract the five years from 1874 to 1878, inclusive — when 

 there was no breeding lioness in the gardens and no cubs 

 were born — the actual period rf breeding lasted only thirty 

 years, during which the average number of births has been 

 5.3 per annum. 



Parents of the Cubs. 



MALES FEMALES. 



No. of Cubs. No. of Cubs. 

 Natalie (1857-9) 10 



Natal (1857-64) 42 -J Anonyma (1861-4) 20 



Old Girl (1862-73) 55 



Sire unknown 



Old Charley (1866-74). 47 ^ Biddy (1871) 4 



Nellie (1869) 3 



Victoria (1879-81) 



,^ Zenobia (1879-83) 17 



Young Charley (79-84) 27 \ 



Queen (1884-91) 28 



Paddy (1883-91) 31 { Minnie ^ 1884-6) 6 



Eomeo (1890-91) 9 Juliet (1890-91) 9 



159 159 

 Sexes of the Cubs. 



Males 85 



Unknown ... 1 



Females 73 



Forward 86 



159 



The Number of Cubs in a Litter. 



Total number of litters, 43; number of cubs, 159; average 

 number of cubs in each litter, 3.7. 



Of litters of 6 cubs there were 2 

 5 " "8 



17 



Thus it will be seen that the average number of cubs in 

 litter approximates most nearly to 4. 



Months in which the Cubs were Born. 



January 6 



February 14 



March 3 



April 22 : 



May 18 



June 9 



72 



-40 



July 5 



August 13 



September 27 ) f^„ 



October 23) " 



November 13 



December 6 



87 

 Forward 72 



159 

 It is to be remarked that 90 out of the total of 159 were- 

 born in the four paired months, namely, April and May (40) 

 and September and October (50). These amount to 56.6 per- 

 cent of the whole number, leaving only 43.4 percent for the- 

 remaining eight months. 



Disposal of the Cubs. 



Died at, or shortly after, birth 30* 



" after some months or year 12 



Retained for stock 8 



Sold (yielding upwards of £4,000) 10&» 



159' 



Percentage of males to females 53.8 to 46.2, or a majority of 

 7.6 males out of every 100. 



THE PURIFICATION OF WATER BY CHEMICAL. 

 TREATMENT.' 



BY WILLIS a. TUCKER, M.D. 



Pure water does not exist in nature. It is an ideal sub- 

 stance to which the purest water that can be pi-epared by 

 the chemist only approximates. From a chemical sta)Ddpoint 

 every foreign substance which water may contarnj is an 

 impurity, but, hygienically considered, water is called impure- 

 only when it contains excessive amounts of mineral matter- 

 in solution or in suspension ; when it contains organic matterr 

 of vegetable or animal origin, or the produicts;of the decom- 

 position of such matter in quantities exceeding certain gen- 

 erally accepted but rather arbitrarily assigned liimits, or wheni 

 it is shown to contain living organisms believed to be asso- 

 ciated with or productive of diseases which watenmay com- 

 municate. All filth in food or drink is to be abhon-ed'i.but,. 

 none the less, distinction must be made between that which,, 

 containing or accompanying specific disease germs, may give- 

 rise to specific diseases, and that which is, while not unobjec- 

 tionable, yet apparently incapable of materially affecting 

 health. The chemist is as yet unable to distinguise disease- 

 producing from relatively harmless impurities in water. Hfi. 

 can recognize tho.se constituents which indicate organic- 

 pollution; demonstrate the present existence of puitBescent, 

 material, or show that such material has previously ex;isted; 



' Read before the Medical Society of the County of Albany at a (aeeting- 

 held February S3, 1892. Reprinted from the Albany Medical Aoaals, AprH^ 

 1893. 



