24 
receipt is about 11 per cent, of the totals of new animals 
and 21 per cent, of our total mortality for the year. It 
would seem therefore that we might credit our deaths 
by a reduction of about a fifth, the remainder being about 
what might be expected of animals fairly well acclimatized. 
The past year has seen many new specimens in our 
Garden, a total of 890 having been received. This being 
in excess of the average and the total number exhibited 
being larger than ever in the history of our records, it 
is not unexpected that our mortality would be high. 
The accompanying table will show the figures and permit 
comparisons. The percentage mortality of the mammals 
is slightly below the average whilst that of the birds is 
definitely higher than formerly and is the reason for the 
increase of the total mortality percentage. 
The vast majorit}^ of the deaths have been in small 
birds and mammals, and a moderate number of old worn- 
out specimens have added to the list. There were some 
unfortunate deaths, as occurs every year, amongst 
unusual and valuable animals, which therefore deserve 
special mention. The Great Kudu died from acute 
gastritis probably due to some excessive quantity of 
soft food. Ordinarily food of this character passes to 
the abomasum directly and if spoiled can start trouble 
there primarily. 
During the late autumn and early winter there oc- 
curred an outbreak of enteritis amongst the deer and 
new elands, resulting in six deaths. This was not an 
infectious process as judged by the necroptical appear- 
ances but one of toxic nature. It seemed as if the stom- 
ach was relatively little involved, with perhaps the ex- 
ception of the pyloric end of the abomasum, and that 
the whole small intestine bore the brunt of intoxication. 
As a probable cause was a poor dirty grade of hay. 
The pair of Raggi's Paradise Birds died shortly after 
arrival, the first, the female, probably the result of 
domestic infelicity since she had been vigorously pecked 
upon the head and neck. The male died later from 
enteritis of rather serious grade to which he must have 
