Special Meeting.] 524 [March 28, 



It was at one time hoped that a piece of ground at no great dis- 

 tance from the thickly settled part of the city might be obtained, 

 and there was much discussion of the possibility of securing a foot- 

 hold on the Francis estate. But as time passed on and one piece 

 of ground after another was brought into the market and occupied, 

 it became only too evident that our sole resource was in the wil- 

 lingness of the Park Commissioners to cooperate with us in our 

 undertaking. Even with their aid it seemed hopeless to try to pro- 

 cure sufficient ground in any one place to establish a garden on 

 any plan sufficiently extended to merit the approbation of the cit- 

 izens of Boston. Indeed the character of the country about Boston, 

 where it is difficult to find any diversified ground with a considerable 

 amount of flowing water in its near vicinity which could be utilized 

 for the needs of an aquarium and aquatic animals, would render the 

 selection of a suitable place, even were every district at our disposal, 

 a difficult task ; and inasmuch as in such gardens as were proposed 

 it was only necessary for certain animals that they should enjoy an 

 abundant water supply, the solution of the difficulty seemed to lie 

 in arranging for several pieces of ground, some of which would an- 

 swer for one purpose and some for another. This solution has met 

 its best response in the action of the Park Commissioners in con- 

 ference with our committee. They have, as you know, now re- 

 served for our use certain areas of land under their control, one 

 of which, that part of Franklin Park lying on the city side of the 

 Playstead and the Greeting, consisting of about forty acres and con- 

 taining diversified rocky ground in part abundantly wooded, would 

 answer excellently for the natural history park proper, to contain 

 the ordinary animals which do not require an extensive water sup- 

 ply ; a second piece consists of well-watered ground in the vicinity 

 of Jamaica Pond suitable for aquatic animals ; and there are be- 

 sides two points in East and South Boston, situated at the sea- 

 shore, which would answer admirably for aquaria. At first sight 

 such a distribution of the proposed natural history park into sev- 

 eral separate establishments may seem highly disadvantageous, 

 and it is a division such as has never before been attempted in a 

 zoological garden. It would obviously require a larger staff to 

 operate it, but it may be claimed that there are certain advantages 

 which here at least would quite offset these objections. It is thus 

 possible to obtain for aquatic animals places especially suited for 

 them, and to select ground of a very varied character without feel- 



