32 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 



iially increased, until it now numbers 340 species of mammals, birds, 

 and reptiles represented by 1,362 individuals. 



Among the 325 accessions during the year I may mention as of spe- 

 cial interest a male hippopotamus, a pair of young Bengal tigers, a 

 pair of young lions, a sable antelope, and an American white crane. 

 Among some specimens received from the Zoological Garden at Giza, 

 Egypt, was a pair of young African elephants. Thirty-eight in- 

 dividual donors contributed birds, reptiles, and other animals. 



Popular interest in the park is shown by the fact that the number 

 of visitors during the year was 733,277, or a daily average of 2,009, 

 being an increase of 100,000 over the previous year. In the interest 

 of education in nature study many schools, classes, etc., visit the park 

 accompanied by their teachers; such groups during the year num- 

 bered 3,172 individuals. 



The improvements in quarters for the animals and for the comfort 

 of visitors are reviewed by the superintendent in Appendix 4. Ten 

 breeding pens, in a yard 40 by 56 feet, were built to provide for the 

 breeding and study of mink in cooperation with the Department of 

 Agriculture. 



The rough stone or bowlder bridge across Kock Creek, appropria- 

 tion for which was made during the previous fiscal year, was opened 

 to travel on November 1, 1913. 



Perhaps the most important feature of the year in connection with 

 the Zoological Park was an appropriation by Congress which became 

 available for the purchase of about 10 acres to extend the western 

 boundary of the park to Connecticut Avenue, between Cathedral 

 Avenue and Klingle Road. Legal proceedings necessary to the trans- 

 fer of this property had not been completed at the close of the year. 



A new roadway to the park has been made to replace Quarry Road, 

 which had a very steep and dangerous gradient. 



Among the important needs, some of which have been urged in 

 former reports, are («) a suitable house for the care and preservation 

 of the birds of the collection; (h) an adequate reptile house; (c) a 

 pachyderm house; and (d) a hospital and laboratory. Attention is 

 called to the statements of the superintendent urging these several 

 needs, particularly with regard to the laboratory. ^ 



There is need, too, for extending the scope of classes of animals in 

 the park, particularly those of common interest to the public, such as 

 the gorilla, orang, and chimpanzee, giraffe, East African buffalo, and 

 mountain goats and sheep. 



ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY. 



The work of the Astrophysical Observatory, described in detail 

 in the report of its director, has comprised observations and compu- 

 tations at Washington and in the field relating to the quantity of 



