ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
115 
and marvelled at the miracle that had taken place. Where 
were the clumsy feet and the horny jaws? There was no 
trace of them left. The delicate creature I held was made 
to tread on air and blossoms. Gone was the cutting, grinding 
mouth. Instead, there was a thread-like tube, coiled up like 
a watch spring, to be uncoiled and daintily thrust into a 
flower-cup to extract nectar. For a brief time this exquisite 
creature was one with joy and light and beauty. It could 
rise from the eartli and sip the honey of flowers. In its 
glorified state it seemed almost to transcend physical 
existence. 
PART IT 
My Acquaintance with Zoological Park Animals 
On my first visit to Boston, soon after my eighth birthday, 
I was taken to a menagerie, and formally introduced to an 
elephant, a cageful of 
monkeys and three 
baby lions. The 
monkeys were very 
mischievous. They 
pulled my hair and 
snatched at the 
flowers in my hat. 
Their queer, cold 
hands made me 
shiver, and I did not 
MISS KELLER STUDYING FORMS 
She seemed to know the elephant, estimat¬ 
ing the height very shrewdly, and was not 
the least startled when offered a snake and 
by mistake put her hand on its head. The 
ordinary person—a woman at least—would 
have screamed; not so Miss Keller—she 
evinced surprise very slightly. 
like their teasing- 
antics a bit. 
The elephant was 
an enormous fellow 
with a breath like the 
blast from a furnace. 
He helped himself to 
a bag of peanuts I 
held in my hand, and 
swallowed them, bag 
and all. When I tried to feel his trunk, he objected and 
lifted it out of reach. His keeper assisted me to climb up on 
Jumbo’s back, where I sat frightened, but proud of the 
adventure. I felt like a little boat afloat upon a great sea, 
and secretly I was glad to climb back to the firm earth again. 
The young lions were docile and playful. They rolled 
over on their backs and purred like kittens. I could not 
believe they would grow up into ferocious beasts of prey. 
But when I saw two of them years later, I was convinced. 
As I stood by their cage, I realized that my innocent, pretty, 
good-natured lion kittens had undergone a great change, not 
only in their physical appearance, but also in mind and 
disposition. The lioness was still slender, and more quiet 
than the male, which had developed into a powerful, aggres¬ 
sive creature with an imposing mane. His baby purr was 
now a roar that terrified me. I was not permitted to touch 
him even through the bars. 
I have, however, touched two grown lions since then, also 
Trilby, the famous lioness in the Washington Zoological 
Park. She was as gentle and as beautiful as a great Dane. 
She pressed her body against me affectionately and licked 
my hand. One lion, a splendid fellow, held out a huge paw 
to me in a friendly manner, let me feel his great head and 
even growled amiably for my entertainment. His keeper 
