170 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



and two species are described by Leech as occurring 

 in Corea, and I therefore include tliem here. 



1. E. hecabe. L. Syst. Nat. i. 2, p. 763, n. 96 

 (1767). 



40 — 45 mm. 



(J wings briglit yellow. F.w. with a black 

 border, broadest towards apes, narrowing towards 

 its middle, and widening out again towards on. 

 ang. There is a very faint indication of a disc, 

 spot. H.w. with a narrow black marginal border. 

 There is no disc. spot. XJ.s light yellow, with 

 small circular spots ; some of tliese on h.w. 



arranged in rows. J resembles S in markings, 

 but is lighter in colouring, being greenish-white ; 

 generally smaller. H.w. with only a trace of 

 marginal border. 

 Hab. Corea. 



(To he continued.) 



EECENT CRITICISMS ON THE 

 ZOOLOOICAL SOCIETY. 



rri HE grooves in which our learned societies lie, 

 -'- although by no means so time-honoured as 

 those containing tlie older Universities, are yet so 

 deep that the spirit of the age enlightens them 

 but little. Hence much well-deserved criticism is 

 aroused, which from time to time finds expression 

 in the newspapers, and as by reason of its gardens 

 the Zoological Society is ever before the public, its 

 conduct is most openly called into question. 



There is no doubt but that every true naturalist 

 who is familiar with the " Zoo " has found out 

 some of its failings, and thought over the possi- 

 bilities of greater usefulness which it pre-eminently 

 possesses. Here and there also the difference 

 between natural conditions and those of captivity 

 force themselves, uninvited, upon his attention, and 

 he feels something akin to pity for the creatures. 



It is chiefly froiu this sentimental point of view 

 that one of the latest attacks (') upon- the Zoo- 

 logical Society has been made, and although 

 "facts" have been chosen as it were to fit a 

 theory, and much that has been said is far-fetched, 



(1) " The Oia Zoo ami the JJew." By Eduiuud Selous. Pub- 

 lished by tlie Hnmauitariaii League, and lepi-inted with the 

 adaitiou of illustrations from the Xiaurclai/ Recietc of .March 

 ICth, 23rd. 30th, and April 6tli, lOili. 



yet a great deal of sober sense has been shown and 

 food provided for the "proper conscience with 

 regard to animals which is still," we are told, " a 

 growth of the future." 



The excuse for the series of articles when they 

 first appeared was the criticism of a book called 

 " A Walk through the Zoological Gardens," by 

 Mr. F. G. Aflalo. In this, according to the Satur- 

 day Reviewer, the author, while giving some 

 interesting, but not copious, information among 

 his " vulgarisms," shows a tendency " to sympathise 

 with some of the unhappy creatures wearing out 

 their lives in the beast Bastille of the Gardens." 



To return, however, to the criticism on the " Zoo." 

 In his general tirade against that old bugbear, the 

 cruelty of captivity, the writer of the articles has 

 picked out and harped upon one or two exceptional 

 cases of "the most unmercifully severe confine- 

 ment," which anyone with no further information 

 might wrongfully consider as typical of the London 

 Zoological Gardens. 



There is no doubt but that the " languid and un- 

 interested public " does require a deal of arousing 

 before it expresses a distinct and definite desire for 

 a change. Hence, no doubt, the endeavour to 

 make out a case of cruelty which a section of the 

 press (-) was only too ready to take as i^roved, in 

 order to stir up a wish for a " Zoo " upon more 

 modern principles. We may, nevertheless, look 

 for some good to come out of the so-called " expo- 

 sure of abuses," as it appears to have led up to a 

 more serious attempt to improve the work of the 

 Zoological Society. 



We may descend to details for a few moments 

 and consider some of the " evidence " brought for- 

 ward by the Satm-day Reviewer. Of actual 

 physical discomfort the only cases that could be 

 found — and it speaks well for the care and atten- 

 tion of the keepers — were the possible ones of the 

 overgrown nails of the kangaroo and the lame left 

 leg of a bustard. The kangaroo, we are assured, 

 felt little inconvenience from its claws, which 

 would have been cut if necessity had demanded. 

 The animal in question was born in captivity, lived 

 for eleven years in the Gardens, was the father of 

 a family, and died some nine months or more 

 before the articles we are discussing were printed. 

 The most is made of the second instance, for it is 

 recorded no less than three times in four articles. 

 The bird in question was in the diseased condition 

 desci'ibed when it arrived at Regent's Park, and, 

 although it might have been better to destroy 

 it, the feelings of donors have to be taken into 

 consideration as well as those of the animals 

 and Saturday Reviewers. Everyone will coiiceile 

 that " a small wash-bowl " is not big enough for 

 a swan to swim in, and that the dimensions 

 of some of the cages appear ridiculou,sly small 

 when quoted, and even when unscientifically oom- 



( 2) " The Case against tlie Zoo," .5^ Jantps's Gazetd', April Sth, 

 1901. 



