FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



51 



adopted, officers elected, and plans proposed for raising the 

 necessary funds. 



Soon after this the rehellion broke out, and in the clash 

 of arms, the terrible anxieties of the times, and the fevered 

 pursuit of wealth that followed the inflation of the currency, 

 the subject of zoological gardens entirely disappeared. 

 Many of those whose names appear as officially connected 

 with the association, and whose purses and influence would 

 now be warmly exerted in its favor, have passed away, to the 

 irreparable loss of the Society. Those who remain have re- 

 vived the project with every prospect of its complete ac- 

 complishment. The increased wealth since the inception of 

 the idea in 1859, the enlarged size of the Park, the growth 

 of the city and the prospect of the Centennial, have widened 

 the views of the Society and it is confidently anticipated 

 that the Garden now established will equal in a few years 

 the superb one of London. The strangers that will flock 

 here in 1876 will one and all visit the Zoological Garden. 

 In 1851, the year of the great Exhibition of London, the 

 number of visitors to the Zoological Gardens increased from 

 360,402 in the year before to 667,243; and in 1862, the time 

 of the second and International Exhibition, it leaped from 

 381,337 in 1861 to 682,205. The number has been steadily 

 on the increase since its foundation. In 1863 the largest 

 number up to that time, except the Exhibition years, was 

 468,700, and by regular progression annually it reached in 

 1871 the large amount of 595,917 persons. 



The situation of the Philadelphia Garden is most admi- 

 rable in every way. Stretching along the west bank of the 

 Schuylkill river for nearly a third of a mile; opposite the 

 principal entrance to the Park on one side over the Girard 

 Avenue bridge and the "West Philadelphia approach by 

 Thirty-fifth street on the other ; directly on the route to the 

 Centennial Exhibition ; contiguous to the great railroad 

 artery of the United States, the Pennsylvania Central, a 

 sideling from which will enter the receiving-house of the 

 Society (marked D on the plan), and thus enable animals 

 and curiosities from all parts of the United States to be car- 

 ried without change of cars directly to the Garden, or from 

 the East Indies, China, Japan, South America and the 

 Pacific islands with but one trans-shipment; while the canal 

 alongside enables freights of all kinds and from any part of 

 the world to be deposited at the very entrance-gates ; the 

 ground rolling and fertile, rising in the centre, and suffi- 

 ciently elevated to be away from the floods of the river ; 

 larger by some acres than the Zoological Garden of London ; 

 interspersed with handsome trees, many of them of noble size, 

 planted by John Penn, whose family mansion, " Solitude," 

 still stands (35) within the proposed inclosure, and has been 

 carefully restored to its original appearance by the Society ; 

 the old West Philadelphia Waterworks (20) only needing 

 an engine to force the water into the lake, around which 

 will be the abodes of the aquatic animals, and from whence 

 the natural slope of the land will permit the irrigation of 

 the whole tract ; the great sewer for the use of the western 

 portion of the city, now in process of construction, passing 

 through the southern end of the Garden, and running along 

 the bank of the river to empty below the dam ; convenient 

 to all parts of the city by means of the city railways and the 

 Beading Eailroad ; — these and many other advantages, 

 which an examination of the illustration of the grounds will 

 naturally suggest, produce a combination unsurpassed and 

 unsurpassable anywhere. 



Is it exaggeration to say that the Philadelphia Zoological 



Gardens, once properly established, will be regarded with 

 pride and affection by the citizens, and will very materially 

 benefit the whole city? The grounds handsomely laid out 

 in walks and drives, bordered with grass and flowers, terraced 

 from the river ; tables and chairs scattered about on the 

 green sward under the trees ; a band of music ; the cool 

 breezes from the Schuylkill ; opposite, the beautiful Lemon 

 Hill Park, with its broad drive alongside the bank — could 

 anything be more attractive and wholesome to the hundreds 

 of thousands who through the hot months are obliged to 

 remain in the city? 



The advantages of a zoological garden will hardly be dis- 

 puted, not only as a place of amusement, but of recreation 

 and instruction, nor, with the experience of other institu- 

 tions of like character, situated in cities much smaller than 

 Philadelphia, will it be asserted that, if properly managed, 

 it will not be not only self-supporting, but profitable. Like 

 all public projects, however, it is up-hill work to procure 

 the necessary funds to place it upon a solid basis. In these 

 days of railroad securities and of large dividend-paying 

 stocks and bonds, an immediate return is expected, and in- 

 vestments in zoological stock seem to the American people 

 money thrown away. Amsterdam, much smaller than 

 Philadelphia, supports an admirable garden, almost rival- 

 ling London. Hamburg rejoices in an excellent one, and so 

 does Frankfort; and many others might be named, all less 

 in size and without the trade and visitors of Philadelphia. 

 London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, and the larger cities of the 

 world, as is well known, have collections of living animals 

 which are the pleasure and wonder of their citizens and of 

 all travellers. 



The gentlemen who were obliged to relinquish the plan 

 of a zoological garden for Philadelphia upon the breaking 

 out of the war, revived it again when affairs became settled, 

 and in the spring of this year received the grant of land 

 which has been described, and energetically proceeded to 

 raise the requisite money to insure success. 



By the rules of the Society, members are elected upon ap- 

 plication, and upon the payment of five dollars initiation fee 

 and five dollars per annum thereafter, become entitled to 

 admission to the garden and a vote in the proceedings of 

 the Society, or they may commute all dues by the payment 

 of fifty dollars upon election. 



It was evident to the officers of the Society that increasing 

 the membership was too slow a method of achieving any 

 financial success, and they adopted the following plan for 

 securing money : The Society issues certificates of stock of 

 $100 each, upon which they agree to pay six per cent, in 

 cash, and two and a half per cent, in tickets of admission to 

 the garden. The cash interest is subject to the condition 

 that the income of the Society shall first be applied to the 

 maintenance of its collection, and the balance only is pledged 

 to the stockholders. Admission to the garden has been fixed 

 at twenty-five cents for an adult, half price for children, and 

 upon certain days in the week, a nominal sum. These ar- 

 rangements are of course subject to change, and may be al- 

 tered before the opening of the garden. Persons making 

 donations to the collection receive a complimentary annual 

 ticket. 



It is important for those desiring to invest in the Society's 

 stock to consider the probability of the receipts exceeding 

 the expenditures, and this can be demonstrated with almost 

 mathematical accuracy in favor of the Society. The main 

 entrance to the garden is directly opposite to the Lands- 



