WILD ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY 
College of Surgeons, but I afterwards received a cheque 
for the sum of £25 for the soft parts of this elephant. 
Another rather amusing occurrence took place in regard 
to this animal. After the skin and bones had been 
removed there remained a large quantity of flesh of which 
it appeared to me somewhat difficult to dispose. At 
this moment a cat’s-meat man made his appearance and 
offered to remove it. I felt a little in doubt whether he 
would carry out his offer, and to make sure I asked him 
if he would give me a sovereign for it, which he readily 
did and at once carted it away. 
Some time afterwards I met him and asked him how 
he got on with the elephant meat. His answer was, “ Oh, 
pretty well at first, but there was too much of it, and I 
was obliged to salt it, and then I found I should lose my 
customers, for the old ladies told me the cats would not 
eat it. I said there was nothing wrong with it, they 
could smell it and it looked very nice ; but none of them 
offered to taste it, or they would have found out how salt 
it was, and this was no doubt the cause of the cats 
declining to eat it.” 
The death of my third elephant occurred after I was 
appointed taxidermist of the Crystal Palace Company. 
This animal belonged to a travelling menagerie and died 
miles from London. With the assistance of my friend, 
the late Charles Jamrach, I secured the dead body of this 
animal, and it was conveyed to London by railway on a 
low trolley. I was much amused on going to the railway 
goods-station to find the officials very obliging and 
condescending, offering every possible assistance and 
agreeing to everything I proposed. The cause of this 
was, I found afterwards, due to these people having mis- 
taken my friend Jamrach for Prince i^lbert. I might say 
that it was well known to all persons acquainted with my 
54 
