1907.] FEATURES IX COJTTINENTAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDEXS. 449 



The small Rodents' House at Berlin was singled out for 

 particular commendation on the score of ingenuity and com- 

 pleteness for its purpose. The plans of this building were shown, 

 by the kindness of Dr. Heck, Director of the Berlin Zoological 

 Gardens. 



It had come to be more and more fully realised that the majority 

 of creatures from warm — even from tropical — countries would 

 thrive well even in the winter of an English climate, with access 

 to the outer air. In the Dresden Monkey-house, and iii others 

 constructed on the same plan as our own in London, this had been 

 secured by the simple device of a wired gangway or bridge from 

 the central cages to those outside. Even the Chimpanzees take 

 advantage of this, letting themselves in and out. At Berlin, the 

 Great Ant-eater was thriving in a paddock, in October. The 

 remarkable Monkey-house at Rotterdam was fully described and 

 illustrated by large working plans of its construction, kindly lent by 

 Dr. Biittikofer, the Director of the Rotterdam Zoological Gardens. 

 The Falconnier system of glazing in use here was recommended 

 for reptiles and birds. 



The Storage, Workshops, and Infirmary buildings at Rotterdam 

 were explained by means of the origmal working plans. 



The Deer-house of Breslau was instanced as probably the best 

 in Europe. This house, constructed at an expenditure of only 

 £900, was built of pine logs. In it the following points were worth 

 remembering: — 1. Doors all sliding one way, so that they can be 

 worked from the central corridor. 2. A ventilator to each box. 

 3. Feeding troughs movable up and down (according to size of 

 the animal), and opened outwards for filling. 4. Enamelled 

 water-troughs running in and out on tram-lines. 5. Screens of 

 spruce between the yards. 6. A gallery running round outside 

 the building so that the animals could be viewed from above. 

 7. Food stored above the boxes, on air-tight floors. 



The magnificent " Flight Cage " for birds in Antwerp was con- 

 structed in 1906. It is about 180 ft. long, 70 ft. wide, 60 ft. high. 

 Instead of being built tent- wise, like ours in London, that loss 

 of space was avoided, and equal stability secured, by large arched 

 wings which acted as buttresses and formed an immense addition to 

 the capacity of the Aviary. 



The standing difficulty of how to prevent smell in such houses 

 as those of the small Carnivora and Edentata had been got over in 

 Frankfort and elsewhere by the following simple device. Hot- 

 water pipes were carried along \he front of the cage, while a glass 

 screen, some 5 or 6 feet high, was placed about 4 feet from 

 the cages, and a ventilator constructed towards the back of the 

 cages, but in the roof. The warm air, passing out, hit the screen, 

 was thus deflected and went up through the cages and out at the 

 ventilator. It cax'ried all the smell away with it ; there was 

 literally none where the visitors stood. 



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