APPENDIX C. 
To the Board of Directors of 
The Zoological Garden of Philadelphia : 
Gentlemen : — I have the honor of presenting my report as 
Prosector of the Society. 
It is with pleasure that I can state, that while the number of 
animals in the Garden is steadily increasing, the mortality among 
them is relatively decreasing. The experience of the past two 
years has confirmed the conviction expressed by me in a pre- 
vious report submitted to the Board, that improper food, both 
in quantity and quality, ill-constructed cages, and climatic 
changes are the main causes of the mortality in zoological gar- 
dens, and that the administration of drugs to really sick animals 
is of but little avail. When we consider the unnatural condi- 
tions to which an animal is subjected under confinement, and 
which the exigencies of a menagerie often unavoidably demand, 
the wonder is not that the animals die but that they live. The 
relatively small mortality in the Garden I attribute to the ef- 
forts made so far as possible to surrounding the animals with 
conditions approximating to those of nature, to letting them 
alone, and to the very sparing use of medicines. In making my 
post-mortem examinations of the animals that have died in the 
Garden, when any facts of scientific interest presented them- 
selves I communicated the same to the Academy of Natural 
Sciences of Philadelphia, and when such facts were novel they 
have been published in the proceedings of the same. 
1877. Name of Animal. Cause of Death. 
March 24. Raccoon (P. lotor). Pneumonia. 
April 2. TioxQ {C. pilorides). No organic disease. 
" 7. Capybara {H. capyhara). Septicaemia. 
" 23. Porcupine (C weto?i). Laceration of head. 
(21) 
