ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, or PARKS. places for the keeping and attractive display of living animals, where they may live as far as possible, in the open air and under natural conditions; a zoological garden thus differs from a menagerie, as that term is now under stood, in that in the latter the animals are con fined in narrow prison-cages, under (-user. and are usually borne from place to place to he dis played for a fee. Collections of captive ani mals have always been kept by royal and eminent persons, and formed a large element in the sights and amusements of the populace in ancient and mediaeval cities. The present conception of zoological collection. as a place where animals shall be maintained in the great est practicable freedom for the sake of exhibit ing their traits to the student, and shall be re garded only secondarily as objects of curiosity. is a modern idea, and one that has been developed to its highest degree in the United States. Many large cities of the Old World have "zoos," as they are popularly called, not ably London, Dublin, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Hanover, Cologne, Bombay, Cal cutta, Tokio, Melbourne and several South American cities, especially Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. All of these are the property of a society or private ownership of some sort except the garden in Berlin, and that attached to the Museum of Natural History at the Jardin des Plantes, in Paris and that in Vienna. They are sustained, therefore, partly by membership subscriptions and partly by gate-receipts, but most or all of them give free days. The sale of animals born and reared within their pre cincts is a source of revenue with some, as, for instance, the Dublin garden which has supplied a large proportion of all the lions now held in captivity by circus and traveling menageries. The Berlin ((zoo') stands third in the number of its animals and general excellence of ar rangements; that of London, founded in 1828, is second only to the New York Zoological Park, and the splendid series of volumes constituting the 'Proceedings' and 'Transactions' of the Zoological Society of London attest the ad mirable use which has been made of the col lection by naturalists.
Zoological gardens have long existed in the United States, among the oldest being those at Cincinnati and Philadelphia, both privately sus tained, and each highly creditable. To these were added collections of living animals in the parks of various cities, maintained by municipal appropriation, among which those in Bronx Park, New York; Highland Park, Pittsburgh; Lincoln Park, Chicago; Belle Isle, Detroit, and Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, are im portant.
The National Zoological Park at Washing ton was established in 1889, in a large tract of hilly and forested land along Rock Creek in the outskirts of Washington. Its prime purpose was to gather a representative collection of American animals and possibly preserve from extinction species threatened with racial de struction. It has extensive and highly pic turesque grounds, and its collection of animals has remarkably favorable surroundings and is kept in admirable condition. The support of this free park, one-half of which comes from Congress and one-half from the District of Columbia, has not been sufficiently liberal to make its development as rapid as its friends desire.
The latest and foremost American zoolog ical park is that in the northern part of the city of New York, which is under the control of the New York Zoological Society, to which the city granted 264 acres of land in Bronx Park, police protection and various aids and immuni ties. It is largely financed out of municipal funds and is free to the public five days a weeks. A large herd of American bison is a notable feature of this park. This is the largest and most suitable space devoted to the care and exhibition of animals anywhere in the world, and since its opening in 1897 it has developed into a most prominent and useful position among the world's institutions of this kind. The society has about 2,000 members, and is sues a series of important periodical publica tions. This park has been developed and re mains under the care of William T. Hornaday. Consult 'Annual Reports' of the Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D. C.) ; (Bulletins of the Zoological Society of New York' (contain ing many photographs and plans of buildings and enclosures) ; Flower, S. S., (Notes on Zoological Collections visited in Europe in 1907> (Public Works Department, Cairo, Egypt) ; (Reference List of the Zoological Gardens of the World' (1910) ; Loisel, G., sur une mission scientifique dans les jardins et emblissements zoologiques publics et prives du Royaume-Uni, de la Belgique et des Pays-Bas, et des Etats-Unis et du Canada, et conclusions generales) (Paris 1908) ; Peel, C. V. A., 'The Zoological Gardens of Europe' (London 1903).