Abstract
THE monthly meeting of the Zoological Society of London, at their house in Hanover Square, held on January 22, was well attended, it being expected that some account of the operations of the committee of reorganisation recently appointed by the council, on the occasion of the change in the secretaryship, would be given. The chair was taken by His Grace the Duke of Bedford, K.G., the president, at 4 p.m., and the new secretary, Mr. W. L. Sclater (lately director of the South African Museum, Cape Town), was present for the first time. After the. election of new fellows and other routine business, the report of the council was read by the secretary. It stated that thirty additions had been made to the Society's menagerie during the month of December last, amongst which was a very fine pair of the one-wattled cassowary (Casuarius uniappendi-culatus), deposited by the Hon. Walter Rothschild, M.P. The report also stated that the total income of the Society in 1902 had been 29,077l., being, in spite of the bad weather that had prevailed during the summer, only 273l. less than ihe receipts of the previous year, and being the sixth largest annual income ever received by the Society. The report of the reorganisation committee was then read to the meeting by Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B., the hon. secretary of the committee. It was divided into numerous heads relating to every branch of the Society's affairs, and containing recommendations thereon. Many of these were of a technical character, but important changes were advised under the heads of the gardens and menagerie, the prosectorium, the staff at Hanover Square and the secretaryship. The charge of the Society's gardens and menagerie was proposed to be entrusted to a member of the council, Mr. W. E. de Winton. Mr. de Winton would thus, for the present, take the place of Mr. Clarence Bartlett, who has retired on account of bad health on a pension. This appointment being for a year only would give time for the selection of a new superintendent, who must possess special qualifications such as were not easily to be found. Various buildings, such as the giraffe house, the small mammals' house and the bears' dens, were pointed out as specially requiring reconstruction, and there should be a new seals' pond and better accommodation for the polar bears. Alterations were also recommended at the monkey and antelope houses and in other buildings. A foreman keeper should be appointed to make periodical tours of inspection in the gardens during the day, and the keepers should be forbidden to accept gratuities, to trade in living animals or to keep them without the sanction of the authorities. The prosectorium should be carried on by the present officer in charge (Mr. F. E. Beddard, F.R.S.), but on lines to be laid down by a scientific committee, so that the work should have a more definite object. The prosector should also have a veterinary assistant, who would help in the post-mortems and look after the health of the animals in the menagerie. The salary of the new secretary would begin at 600l. a year, and his work would be under the supervision of various committees, of all of which the president would be an ex officio member. These committees were to be directly responsible to the council The garden-guide, which the council had formerly granted to the secretary as part of his emolument, had now reverted to the Society, and would be improved and carried on for their benefit.
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The Zoological Society's Meeting . Nature 67, 309 (1903). https://doi.org/10.1038/067309a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/067309a0