premises, found to his horror that an elephant, with his pick-lock trunk, had let out a hyæna and a nylghau from their cages, and was busy undoing the fastenings of a den full of lions! The same resolute spirit, however, soon restored order. Amateurs have not always the same courage or self-possession, and they immediately have recourse to the garden-folks to get them out of their difficulties, as a housekeeper would send to the station-house on finding a burglar secreted in his cellar. On one occasion a gentleman, who had offered a rattlesnake and its young to the gardens at a high price, sent suddenly to the superintendent to implore immediate assistance, as the said snake, with half a score venomous offspring, had escaped from their box and scattered themselves in his nursery. The possessor, to avoid worse losses, was only too glad to be rid of his guests at any pecuniary sacrifice. We cannot close our survey without touching upon the cost of the commissariat. The slaughtered beasts appropriated to the carnivora, we have before stated, cost in the year 1854 no less a sum than 1,367_l._ 19s. 5d. If we go through the other items of food, we shall give some notion of the expense and the variety of the banquet to which the animals daily sat down during that year. Thus we see hay figures for 912_l._ 14s.; corn, seeds, &c., 700_l._ 8s. 8d.; bread, buns, &c. (for the monkeys), 150_l._ 16s. 8d.; eggs, 87_l._ 4s. 1d. (for the ant-eater principally); milk, 69_l._ 6s. 2d.; mangold-wurzel, carrots, and turnips, 22_l._ 6s.; dog-biscuit, 135_l._ 19s. 10d. (for the bears and wolves and dogs chiefly); fish (for the otters, seal, pelicans, &c.), 214_l._ 8s. 8d.; green tares, 23_l._ 16s. 8d.; rabbits and pigeons (for the snakes), 33_l._ 13s. 2d.; rice and oil-cake, 66_l._ 15s.; sundries, including fruit, vegetables, grasshoppers, snakes, mealworms, figs, sugar, &c. (for the birds principally), 157_l._ 1s. 11d.: making a total of 3,942_l._ 8s. 3d.; a great increase on the food bill of 1853, and which was caused entirely by the advance of prices.