MY LIFE IN THE ANIMAL TRADE 7 
together with his fondness of the animals for their own sake, 
induced him to persevere; and as by our repeated failures we 
gradually came to understand better the requirements of our 
pets, the death rate in the menagerie steadily diminished, and 
the profits on the business rose accordingly. 
It was not until nine years after the foundation of the 
business, in 1857 that is, that my father purchased his 
first large collection of animals. This consisted of five 
lions, a number of panthers and cheetahs, several: hyzenas 
and various antelopes, gazelles and monkeys, all of which 
the African explorer, Dr. Natterer, had brought back to 
Vienna from the Egyptian Sudan, a region which was at that 
time extraordinarily rich in animal life. In the following 
year my father one day asked me seriously, whether I would 
choose as my future calling to be a fishmonger or an animal 
dealer, and, after placing all the pros and cons before me, he 
finally advised me to take up fishmongering as being the 
less speculative trade. I am sure, however, that he did this 
with a heavy heart, for we all loved our menagerie; and 
when I decided in favour of the animal business he showed 
no displeasure, but immediately gave his consent to this 
course of action. It was arranged, therefore, that I should 
take over responsibility for the business, and that my father’s 
liability in the event of any future loss should not exceed 
' £100. I left school in March, 1859—before I turned 
fifteen—and from that day to this I have devoted all my 
energies to the care and development of the business which 
my father founded. The latter, however, remained until his 
death my most trusted adviser, and if in my life's work I 
have attained to some measure of success, it is to him that 
much of the credit is due. From our earliest years he taught 
us to love animals and helped us to understand their needs 
and their instincts. This has assuredly been the corner- 
stone of all our success, for without a genuine love for 
animals a business such as ours must have inevitably 
failed. 
