ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
141 
means, or else greatly curtail its program of 
activities. 
We could easily set down in mournful array 
the items of our annual financial shortcomings; 
but why carry out a harrowing tale to six deci¬ 
mal places? It is proper to say, however, that 
the two largest and most imperative claims 
upon the Society are found in a $30,000 short¬ 
age in annual repairs and replacements, and 
about $20 y 000 for pensions and additions to 
the painfully inadequate salaries of the Zoo¬ 
logical Park force of 146 persons, and others 
at the Aquarium. 
Every man of large affairs knows that men 
can not do their best, in difficult work while they 
are continually harassed in mind by poverty in 
their homes. Nor can “the finest zoo in the 
world” be permitted to acquire a bad name 
through visible dilapidations in buildings, dens, 
aviaries, walks, forests and planting. 
Of the scientific, educational and exploration 
work of the Society there is space here to speak 
of one thing only. 
Few persons realize the enormous reach of 
the Zoological Society, its officers and its col¬ 
lections in educating the millions of American 
people in wild life lore. The influence of the 
Zoological Park and Aquarium, and the Tropi¬ 
cal Research Station, that is exerted broadcast 
through the press alone—and now of high grade 
quality—is worth annual sums far beyond their 
whole cost. This fact has been accorded spe¬ 
cial recognition by Mr. Rockefeller’s investi¬ 
gators. 
Of all the great institutions for the benefit of 
mankind, the creators of the Rockefeller Foun¬ 
dation are among the most wise and judicious 
in avoiding the bestowal of support upon trivial 
or unworthy objects. After a very searching 
investigation by trained experts, and a compre¬ 
hensive report on the Society’s purposes and 
activities, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., quickly 
and generously bestowed upon the Society a 
gift of $1,000,000, or one-half of the fund re¬ 
quired. One-half of this was given outright 
and immediately, and the other half is made 
contingent upon the raising of $1,000,000, from 
other sources. 
Best of all, no “strings” of any kind were 
attached to the gift. The income is left abso¬ 
lutely free, to be devoted to the urgent needs 
of the Society as they develop from day to day 
and hour to hour. The report of the expert 
examiners stated with perfect truthfulness, “The 
Society is very poor!” Now, if any power on 
this earth could induce the City of New York 
to make the annual Zoological Park mainte¬ 
nance fund just a little less than like an iron¬ 
clad straight-jacket, what a benefit it would be! 
Closely following the spendid action of Mr. 
Rockefeller, Mr. Edward S. Harkness made a 
gift of $100,000, and the will of our beloved 
Mrs. Frederick Ferris Thompson gives us 
$50,000 more. 
These accummulations are distinctly of a life¬ 
saving character. They come to us as comes 
to a man on a rack the sound of an order to 
“slack up.” 
But we need, and we must have within ten 
(10) short months, the awful sum of $850,000 
more! We need subscriptions in four figures, 
five figures and six figures! And the worst of 
it is: 
We can not carry on without them! 
If you like the record of the Society, if you 
are pleased with the Zoological Park and its 
men, if you approve the Aquarium, and if you 
are proud of the achievements and the fame of 
the Tiopical Station, do we need to say more? 
MR. CARL E. AKELEY’S AFRICA BOOK 
Mr. Akeley, the famous sculptor-taxidermist 
and explorer of the zoology of Africa, lias writ¬ 
ten a book of lively interest and permanent 
value. “In Brightest Africa” (Doubleday, Page 
& Co.) is, in general, a sketchy autobiography 
of the author, but in one of its details it is an 
excellent exhibit of the actual form, habits and 
surroundings of the wonderful East African 
gorilla. During at least fifty years of earnest 
striving, much blind groping and some horrible 
blundering on the part of travelling collectors 
abroad and taxidermists at home, the gorilla has 
been a helpless victim. Of all the horrible 
mounted animals of the world’s museums, some 
of the “stuffed” gorillas may be reckoned the 
worst. 
Theodore Roosevelt would have rejoiced, as 
we do, in Mr. Akeley’s shrewd and careful 
gorilla observations, his field work, and finally 
his results. At last Africa’s most wonderful 
mammal has been vividly put upon the zoo¬ 
logical map of the world. Of course there are 
many details to be added later on, but the pho¬ 
tograph of the recently mounted Mikeno mon¬ 
ster, on page 191, will delight all seekers after 
the truth in gorilla form. 
To the grand army of vertebrate zoologists 
and students of animal intelligence, Mr. Ake¬ 
ley’s volume will be of keen interest.— W. T. H. 
