HAMLYN'S MENAGERIE MAGAZINE. 
In 1828 was published E. T. Bennett's guide 
to the "Tower Menagerie," copiously illustrated 
from the life of William Harvey. At that period 
the collection was probably at its best, and the 
book describes as actual inmates of the Tower, 
Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, 
Ocelot, Caracal, Hyaena, Wolf, Black Bear, Grizz- 
le}', Bornean Bear, Thibet Bear, various Mon- 
keys, Elephant, Zebra, Rusa Deer, Llama, and 
many smaller animals and birds. There were 
also over a hundred Rattlesnakes, varying in size 
from four feet to six feet. The keeper at that 
time was Mr. Alfred Cops, who seems to have 
been an able and an enthusiastic naturalist. One 
of his methods was to let the lions run loose in 
the yard, where they were petted by the visitors 
— a practice that highly delighted the Duke of 
Sussex on his first visit. 
The menagerie was located in the extreme 
western corner, and demanded so much space, 
and interfered so greatly with the plans for re- 
building the entrance, that in 1831 the Duke of 
Wellington urged its removal. King William 
acquiesced, and presented the animals to the Zoo- 
logical Society, with the wish that such specimens 
as were not required at Regent's Park should be 
sent to the Zoological Society of Dublin. And 
this was the last of a very famous collection. One 
cannot but regret that this ancient royal menagerie 
had not been domiciled at some such place as 
Kew, where it would have had room to expand. 
BLUE FOX FARMS. 
From "The Star," 6th March, 1916. 
The very idea of a fox-farmer is enough to 
cause a thrill of horror in fox-hunting districts, 
but Mr. J. D. Hamlyn, the famous wild beast 
dealer, has a great idea. He can enable you to 
start the business with six blue foxes from Green- 
land, which are now in his menagerie in Shadwell. 
Mr. Hamlyn told a "Star" representative that 
fox-farming could be introduced into Scotland or 
1o one of the islands of the Hebrides, and would 
pay well, ll has been adopted in Newfoundland 
and Prince Edward island, where foxes .ire bred 
for their fur. 
IN FOUR COLOURS. 
1 In- animals arc kepi in large wire enclosures, 
the families consisting of a fox and two vixens. 
Bach forxy family has a separate wire enclosure, 
and when the} become adult they are killed for 
their skins. 
There are white, black, red, and blue foxes, 
and high prices are obtained. 
The blue fox's colour is a peculiar dark blue, 
not unlike the shade of a sailor's serge; but when 
the Arctic winter comes on he begins to shed his 
colour, and the coat takes on a whiter hue in 
order to be in harmony with the white wastes of 
the Polar landscape. In the spring the coats be- 
come blue aefain. 
£26 A PELT. 
Before the war blue fox skins fetched £20 
each in Canada, and now they are £2.2:, owing to 
the international demand for furs. Out of that, 
£7 or £8 is clear profit after paying all expenses 
of the farm. 
The blue foxes are very plentiful in Alaska, 
but Mr. Hamlyn's half-dozen (four foxes and two 
vixens) came from Greenland. When the sealers 
land on the coast there to shoot bear and walrus 
for their furs, they trap these blue foxes, and so 
they reach this country alive. 
The blue fox is smaller than the English 
country gentleman's fox, and not so savage. 
AN IRRITABLE ANIMAL. 
It is a little snappy in confinement, but many 
of us would be a trifle irritable at being shut up 
in Shadwell in the society of a lot of more-than- 
human" chimpanzes and other intellectual won- 
ders. 
Even the prospect of spending a year or so 
in "a lone sheiling on a misty island" in the 
Hebrides hardly reconciles these visitors to their 
present life, but they are in magnificent condition, 
and Mr. Hamlyn boasts that they are looking 
bluer than ever. 
Mr. Hamlyn said his blue foxes are the only 
arrivals of this species in England for a number 
of years. Now is the time, therefore, for anybody 
who would like to try fox-farming in the Hebrides 
to step up with the Treasury notes. 
By the Editor :— 
I have 6 genuine Blue Foxes, 2 White Foxes, 
imported direct from Northern Europe. The sen- 
der advises me as follows : — 
"We have sold our Blue Foxes before 
the War lor £20 each. We have paid our- 
selves £7 and £8 each. The Blue Fox-pelts 
arc here worth up to £22 each." 
I vouch lor the accuracy of the above statement. 
1 prefer to sell them in one lot. Price on applica- 
tion. 
