Perhaps the most interesting spot in the Zoo to the general visitor is the well-known Lion-house, though children almost invariably show a predilection for the monkeys. The Lion-house was erected some few years ago, and is a great improvement upon the former structure, now used for the bears, wolves, and hyenas; but though fairly roomy and comfortable for the larger felidæ inhabiting it, yet, considering their ever increasing number, and the importance which these carnivora hold in the animal kingdom, it is unfortunate that a still larger space and more commodious building could not have been spared for the purpose. The Lion-house contains not only several fine specimens of African lions, but also almost every known species of the larger Cat tribe, the snow leopard of the Himalayas (_Felis uncia_) alone excepted. In our changeable climate, more especially during the long dreary winter-months, when the ground is often covered with snow and hard frosts prevail, animals like the lion, the tiger, and the leopard, accustomed to tropical climates and a more equable temperature than ours, necessarily require their dens to be artificially heated, and great care taken to guard against their suffering from the extreme cold. In spite of every precaution having been taken, several valuable animals succumbed to the rigours of our late almost arctic winter. But ample space and outdoor exercise are also great desiderata, and in this respect it must be confessed that the Lion-house of our own Zoological Gardens does not compare favourably with buildings intended for a like purpose to be seen at Berlin and other continental collections. At the Thiergarten, Berlin—where may be seen a magnificent troop of seven or eight lions all in one large inclosure—there is a rocky hill—made secure, so far as the public are concerned, by a circle of high iron railings, and connected by doorways with the ordinary winter dens. So soon as summer appears and the weather becomes warm, the lions are permitted to roam about at will over this hill; and it is a pleasing sight to observe the creatures really enjoying themselves, and for a time forgetful of their present captivity. Here may be seen a shaggy veteran with his wife and cubs lying together in a group upon some slabs of rock, and basking in the rays of the mid-day sun; there, an old lioness asleep under the shade of an overhanging boulder; while her two half-grown sons, full of health and spirits, are busily engaged in a romp of hide-and-seek.