ROYAL ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, AMSTERDAM 39 



man, at the request of the Council of Administration, 

 was put at the head of the Society, and accepted the 

 entire control of it, which, in spite of his age, he con- 

 tinued to hold until his death. 



In May, 1850, the Gardens occupied nearly five acres, 

 and in the same year the Council instituted attractive 

 concerts twice a week. In April, 1852, His Majesty 

 the King paid a visit to the Gardens, with which he 

 was much pleased. He presented them with his 

 portrait, and gave the Society the name of 'The 

 Koyal Zoological Society.' In 1877 the last enlarge- 

 ment of the premises was completed. The Society, 

 after many futile efforts, succeeded in obtaining from 

 the Municipal Council a piece of land, on condition 

 that the Society should erect on the site a large 

 building, to be utilized as an aquarium, and that 

 superior instruction in Zoology should be given to 

 the University of the town, partly at the Society's 

 expense. In all, the extent of the Gardens was in- 

 creased to more than twenty-live acres, for which 

 463,369 francs were paid. 



In 1888, the year in which the Society held its 

 fiftieth anniversary, there were in the Gardens 378 

 animals of 141 different kinds, 2,009 birds of 462 

 different kinds, and 77 reptiles of 28 kinds. 



The aquarium, opened in 1882, consists of a large 

 and small hall, in which are three big reservoirs con- 

 taining sea water and fresh, pumped in by machinery 

 after having been well filtered. In the large hall 

 will be found sea-water tanks, the two fresh-water 

 tanks being in the small hall. There is a very rich 

 collection of fish in them from all parts of the world, 



