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THE ZOOLOGIST. 



Early in the nineteenth century a quite new departure was 

 made in the British Isles by the establishment of standing 

 menageries that were neither the appendages of Royalty nor 

 Government institutions. Between 1828 and 1836 five Zoolo- 

 gical Gardens, owned by societies of private individuals, were 

 started : four of which (London, Dublin, Clifton, and Man- 

 chester) still exist. 



This example was followed by the Low Countries ; societies 

 were formed, and the Zoological Garden of Amsterdam was 

 founded in 1838, and that of Antwerp in 1843. 



The idea was then taken up in Germany, resulting in the 

 opening of the Berlin Zoological Gardens in 1844. 



In 1850 the Zoological Gardens of the World thus consisted 

 of eleven institutions : — Schonbrunn, Madrid, Paris, London 

 (Regent's Park and Surrey), Dublin, Clifton, Manchester, Am- 

 sterdam, Antwerp and Berlin. 



But in the second half of the nineteenth century such in- 

 stitutions began to be quickly established, not only in Europe, 

 but also in Australia, America, Asia, and, finally, Africa. Al- 

 though from time to time some of these have closed, others are 

 always coming into existence, and the aggregate number con- 

 tinues to increase. The number of fairly large public Zoological 

 Gardens existing in 1908 may be, approximately, taken as fifty- 

 seven, but including smaller collections of animals, kept up in 

 Botanical Gardens and Public Parks, it reaches a total of ninety- 

 five : but as there are probably a certain number of institutions 

 of the existence of which I may be, unfortunately, ignorant, it 

 may be calculated that the total number of standing menageries 

 exceeds one hundred. 



Many fine private collections of living wild animals also exist, 

 notably that of His Grace the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, 

 but these do not come within the scope of this present article. 



I would like to be allowed to take this opportunity of acknow- 

 ledging my sense of obligation to the many kind friends in many 

 lands by whose help I have been enabled to collect the material 

 for this compilation : especially am I indebted to my brother, 

 Mr. Victor A. Flower, who when travelling in Europe, Asia and 

 America, has been so good as to always send me notes on the 

 various Zoological Gardens that he has visited. 



