NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 73 
CHEETAH. 
wrought iron frames. This is considered by the Zoological 
Society a great improvement upon the heavy bar-work 
hitherto in universal use for cage fronts in lion houses. 
The space above the sleeping dens has been developed 
as a sunlit balcony, whereon the animals will be very con- 
spicuous, even to large crowds of visitors. 
Jungle-green tiling, impervious to moisture and dirt, is 
used as a back-ground for the animals. 
The Lion is an animal of perpetual interest, but like 
every other noteworthy wild animal, its haunts are con- 
stantly being claimed by civilization, and its members are 
rapidly decreasing. It is not a difficult matter to exter- 
minate or drive out from a given territory any large and 
conspicuous quadruped, and at the present rate of settle- 
ment and industrial development in Africa, it may easily 
come to pass that by the end of the present century, the 
king of beasts will be without a home, outside of zoological 
collections. 
Like everything great, the Lion has his share of critics 
and detractors. A few writers have asserted that because he 
does not stalk through his native forests with head proudly 
erect, like a drum-major on parade, he is mean-spirited and 
cowardly. But the beast of noble countenance believes in 
