January, 1909 
The rush for gold to California, beginning in 1849, gave 
rise to bottles with exceedingly realistic decoration. ‘The 
long-faced gentleman in the illustration in military cap and 
claw-hammer coat, with his bundle of mining tools slung 
over his shoulder, is evidently making rapid strides into the 
West. His attire no doubt is meant to signify the haste in 
which he left his home. Old residents of Western New 
York remember seeing “prairie schooners” passing westward 
along the road from Buffalo to Chicago, with “Pike’s Peak 
or bust!’ painted on the canvas covers. Returning stragglers 
displayed only the last word of this motto. 
The Jenny Lind and Kossuth bottles commemorate the 
visits of those famous celebrities to our shores, while the 
bottle bearing the face of Charley Ross recalls one of the 
saddest incidents of its kind in our history. 
The collector in his search for bottles will find curious 
specimens made in the shape of books. ‘These are of various 
sizes. The largest one in the illustration will hold three 
quarts, and the smallest one pint. The mouth is situated 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 13 
near the back of the book. These bottles are not made of 
glass, but of the rich brown pottery of Bennington, Vt. Old 
people tell me that these book-bottles were designed in this 
form so that liquid refreshment of various sorts—butter- 
milk, cold tea, or possibly something stronger—might be 
conveniently carried to church services, which, in olden times, 
were affairs of the whole Sabbath day. The morning ser- 
vice was followed by intermission for rest and luncheon be- 
fore the service of the afternoon. Another story is to the 
effect that these book-bottles were made to evade the pro- 
hibition laws of New England. The words ‘‘Departed 
Spirits” which are imprinted in the back of one of the smaller 
bottles leave the reader in puzzled uncertainty as to whether 
they were meant to apply to the inner condition of the bottle 
or to direct the thoughts to realms above. 
About eighty different designs of old glass bottles have 
been found. ‘They are not to be despised as plebeian. They 
deserve a place beside the cherished china and pewter of 
their own generation, and should be carefully preserved. 
Wild Animals in Captivity 
By Esther Low 
M1 RAPID and general is the encroachment 
of civilization upon the still wild portions 
of the continent to-day that the time is not 
inconceivably distant when these unexplored 
or unsettled territories will be completely 
given over to man. And with this slow but 
certain domination arises the almost inevita- 
ble assimilation of the aboriginal inhabitants and the com- 
plete extinction of the fauna, the latter usually taking place 
with extraordinary rapidity. An unfortunate example of 
these truths is the present condition of the American Indian 
and the American bison, the first disappearing and hopelessly 
degenerated, and the former countless millions of the second 
represented here and there by a few small herds in private 
parks or zoological gardens. Here, too, become evident 
the invaluable services of 
zoological collections, not 
only as a means of present 
education, but also in the ~ 
preservation for our future Ch tk 
generations of the rapidly Ny . ts Fe eg be 
5 Ves ST, 
ek . Pe ’ <a 
¥ 
vanishing animal species of 
to-day. 
New York City is pe- , 
culiarly fortunate in the 
possession of two excellent 
collections of this charac- 
ter, the old Central Park 
Zoo, the favorite haunt for 
generations of the city’s 
children, and the splendid 
New York Zoological 
Park inaugurated a few 
years ago in the Bronx, 
and to-day comparing fav- 
orably with the foremost 
institutions of like char- 
acter inthe world. It 
would be too ambitious to 
discuss both these zoologi- 
cal collections in detail in 
this sketch, which is in- 
tended to be merely ex- 
planatory of the accom- 
Hard traveling for the elephant in Bronx Park 
panying illustrations which were made from photographs 
taken at random among the animals both in Central Park 
and in the Bronx. One of the most attractive features of 
the latter institution is unquestionably found in the spacious 
buildings in which the animals are housed, structures not 
only fully answering the purpose for which they were in- 
tended, but which please the eye with their architectural 
beauty as well. Massive stone and handsome woodwork, 
glistening tiling, mosaic and quantities of appropriate plants 
have almost done away with the idea that the exhibition is 
one of caged wild animals, while the latest improvements in 
sanitation and ventilation have practically obviated a fea- 
ture formerly so difficult to disassociate from zoological 
collections—the offense to the sightseer’s poor nose. 
Those of the illustrations which were taken in Central 
Park are of Dewey, the 
patriarch of the lion 
house; of Jennie, the larg- 
est leopardess; of Keeper 
Snyder’s trick elephant 
Hattie, and of the curious 
Tibetan yak. The artistic 
value of the first two pho- 
tographs mentioned needs 
no remark. The splendid 
head of the great lion is 
shown in a characteristic 
pose which goes far to- 
ward substantiating the 
title “King of the Beasts.”’ 
Striking, too, is the head 
of the great spotted cat, 
with its heavy light and 
shade effects. The muscu- 
lar relaxation of its quiet 
dignity still does not con- 
ceal the lurking menace 
ever present in the inscrut- 
able eyes. The leopard 
is undoubtedly one of the 
least reliable of the cat 
family, and Jennie’s facial 
expression, quite opposite 
to Dewey’s open defiance, 
