E RRED TO VISIT ‘MOTHER. 
de mhced his ped offer with profuse 
is,” Captain Ruddles said, ‘‘on the plea that 
Ee go home and see my ‘aged mother, as I 
eek ‘son, and her sight was growing dim. 
many attempts to induce me to change my 
he King presented me witih his pet wildcat 
iruzza, which he kept in a huge cage outside 
royal huts under the shade of the giant palms. 
Some idea of the springing qualities of the 
=striped golybosh may be imagined when I 
uu that this wildest of the wildcats can leap 
he air to catch a flying fox and eat it alive 
2 returning to the ground. With its fond- 
for raw meat I had a great diffificulty on 
a pyase- from Umdingo in the Upper Congo 
iew York to keep its appetite satisfied. I 
Se thint the meat on the steamship off the ice 
-Rararuzza so sayage that she tried to eat 
or Dingbad, my faithful servant, when he 
to clean the cage. 
By a stroke of good fortune I met an old 
friend, the venerable Hakeem Afbab of 
i Halfa, on the Gold Coast, who told me that 
thing to do was to give the golybosh 
ul doses of hasheesh and feed the animal 
uskus, a kind of mush made from corn meal, 
e drug would make the wildcat believe it 
he choicest of raw meats.” 
Captain Ruddles added that the experiment 
succeeded beyond his wildest expectations, 
1 the only thing he was afraid of now was 
his supply of hasheesh would run out before 
‘ot his pet Rararuzza safely to England. While 
tops in New York the golybosh is being kept 
a empty garage belonging to a friend of Mr. 
zle, who takes a personal interest in the wild- 
d talks to the animal every morning in the 
h tongue, which he asserts is akin to that 
Umdingo. 
fhe faithful Dingbad is fed up and says he 
~ care who talks to Rararuzza. 
—_8—_ 
Wild Animals after Death. 
ao WORK AT THE ZOO. 
ie Prosectorium at the Zoological Gardens, 
for research in comparative anatomy, has 
econstituted, and Professor Leiper, of the 
"School of Tropical Medicine, has been 
ted director. 
essor Leiper, as a temporary lieutenant- 
es) R.A.M.C., worked out the life- 
-laboratories. 
history of the worm which causes bilharziosis in 
human beings and suggested measures which 
should suppress this plague in Egypt. He will 
have the direction of the staff and general super- _ 
intendence of the laboratory. 
have been appointed—Dr. Sonntag, M.D., late - 
Captain, R.A.M.C., who is to take charge of 
anatomy; Dr. N. S. ‘Lucas, M.B., Ch.B., of patho- 
logy; and Dr. G. M. Vevers, who is also an assis- 
tant to Dr. Leiper at the Tropical School of Para- 
sitology. 
Since the days of Owen and Huxley, ie 
bodies of animals which die in the Zoological Gar- 
dens have been used for research in comparative 
anatomy. A succession of distinguished “pro-— 
sectors” and many well-known surgeons and zoo- 
logists have added to the knowledge of the higher :- aS 
Shortly be- a 
fore the war, the old Prosectorium, which stood be 
vertebrates by work at the Gardens. 
or a site now covered by the Mappin. Terraces, 
was replaced by more commodious premises behind 
the Reptile House. The work was extended so as 
to include routine pathological investigation into 
the causes of death, and a pathologist was added 
to the staff. Dr. Beddard, F.R.S., the prosector, 
having retired on a pension, and Dr, Piimmer, 
F.R.S., the pathologist, having died during the 
latter years of the war, the work was carried on 
by voluntary help from Dr. Murray, 
the Cancer Research Institute, and Dr. Wood 
Jones. The council had now been able to place 
the Prosectorium on what it is hoped will be a 
permanent basis. 
So far as anatomy is concerned, the first dita 
of the prosectorial staff is to see that all material — 
is used to the best advantage. 
“hee : 
po, 
Three assistants — ates 
Bes 
director of 
In addition to in- ¥: 
vestigations carried out at the Gardens, material __ 
is supplied to other workers and to museums and 
With regard to pathology, much 
time has to be occupied with the investigation and 
recording of the causes of death and giving ad- — 
vice to the Curator and the Garden Committee 
as to cases which suggest disinfection, changes of 
diet, or improvements in housing and accommo- 
dation for the living animals. 
vestigations are also made, and material is sup- 
plied to other workers. 
tains numbers of parasites of different kinds, some 
of them noxious and others apparently harmless. 
There is still an enormous field open with refer- 
ence to the mere identification of these parasites, _ 
and hitherto undescribed species are constantly | 
being found. In addition to such systematic 
work, the parasitologist has an unusual oppor- 
tunity of tracing the complete life-histories of 
parasites and of advancing knowledge with res- 
pect to their detection and treatment in living — 
animals. 
The Prosectorium is not open to visitors to 
> 
the Gardens, as this would interfere with the pro-— 
= 
But special in- a 
Every living animal con- . 
i ee 
© 4 
