

w 



NEWS BULLETIN 



OF THE 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Number 3. Issued by the NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY, U Wall St., N. Y. December, 1898. 



FOUNDATION OF THE REPTILE HOUSE. NOVEMBER 4, 18 



THE REPTILE HOUSE. 



It is safe to say that no other portion of the fauna of 

 North America is so little known as the reptiles. This is 

 due to the fact that living reptiles are difficult to find and 

 to study, that good collections are rare, and books on 

 reptiles are so very few. To-day, people generally are 

 eager to learn more about reptiles, and every opportunity 

 for study is quickly seized. 



Usually" the "reptile house'Is tiie last'oVikling" ~fo"be 

 erected in a zoological garden ; pending which, the most 

 exacting of all collections are cared for in makeshift ways. 

 In our Zoological Park the Reptile House was the third 

 building undertaken, partly because it will be one of the 

 most attractive buildings of the entire series, and also be- 

 cause a portion of its ample space can be borrowed, for a 

 time, for the use of other animals. 



Work upon this building began on August 22d, and the 

 accompanying illustration shows its foundation walls. On 

 another page the complete ground-plan shows not only 

 the shape of the structure, but also the various uses to 

 which it will be devoted. It is violating no confidence to 

 say that all parties concerned in the evolution of this build- 

 ing feel well pleased with the plan. It is symmetrical, 

 comprehensive, and almost certain to produce several very 

 pleasing results. The great central Ball is unbroken by a 

 single column, and opens across the crocodile pool and its 

 generous sand-bank, through three huge arches, into the 

 green, jungly mass of the conservatory. In effect, this 

 room will appear to be one hundred and fifteen feet in 

 length, by forty feet wide, exclusive of the reptile cages. 



In the plan of this building an attempt has been made 

 to provide, under one roof, suitable accommodations for 

 representatives of all the orders of living reptiles and 

 batrachians. It would be an easy matter, however, to 

 fill all the available space with the saurians, tortoises, and 

 turtles, lizards, serpents, and amphibians of North America 

 alone. As we pause to contemplate the great number of 

 species in our own reptilian fauna, the thought occurs, 

 What are we going to do with the reptiles of the Old 

 World ? The conservatory has been designed to furnish a 

 source of supply for the very numerous plants of all 

 sizes that will be required for the two principal halls of the 

 Reptile House, but it may presently be called upon to 

 serve a purpose even greater than that. If the time ever 

 comes that the space now assigned to reptiles is filled to 

 overflowing, the conversion of the conservatory into a 

 third exhibition hall will be a short and easy step. 



The length of the Reptile House, over all, is one hun- 

 dred and forty-six feet, and its greatest width is one hun- 

 dred feet. It is being constructed of buff mottled brick, 

 combined with granite and terra-cotta. It will be roofed 

 with slate, heated by hot water, and its cost, with cages, 

 will be about $40,000. It is beautifully situated on the 

 edge of a forest of great oaks, very near the geographi- 

 cal centre of the Park. Close to the southeastern corner 

 of the building is a natural pooh in a wide outcrop of 

 granite rock, which will speedily be converted into a 

 summer home for saurians. 



It is hoped that the Reptile House can be completed by 

 April, 1899, in time to receive its cages and collections 

 for the opening of the Park in May. 



