172 ' GUIDE TO THE 
to the heat of this climate. This illustrates one of the 
practical difficulties which attends the keeping of animals 
from temperate and cold regions in a garden within 
the tropics. The last Panda, however, was sent to 
Darjeeling during the hot season. The Panda occurs 
in the forests of the Eastern Himalaya and Eastern Tibet, 
but the extent and altitude of its range have not yet 
been satisfactorily ascertained. 
Small Marsupials are sometimes exhibited in this house, 
but the only species at present shown is Dasyuras geoffroyi, 
mentioned under the Sonebursa Plouse. 
The visitor will now leave the Gubbay House by one of 
its eastern doors, and, in passing the Samber tank to the 
right, it may be mentioned that an experiment has re¬ 
cently been made of introducing the Gourami fish, 
Osphromenus olfax , into Lower Bengal from Madras. This 
experiment was conducted by Mr. H. S. Thomas, c. S. the 
author of ‘ The Rod in India,’ who had a very large 
number of young Gourami fishes imported for this 
purpose. This tank was one of those selected because 
it was thought to be free of predatory fish ; but how 
far the experiment has proved successful, yet remains 
to be seen. Continuing onwards to the main road, 
the visitor will pass a cage embowered in creepers and 
known as 
The Ratel Cage, 
as it contains one or more Ratels, sometimes called Honey 
Badgers, of which there are two species, one peculiar to 
Africa, Mellivora ccipensis , the Cape Ratel, and the other 
to India, M. indica , differing but little from each other 
in external appearance. They have an offensive odour 
due to the presence of glands at the base of the tail. The 
