After the preparatory plans had been made by M. Davioud, the resident architect of the city, and approved of by the council of thirty-four of the principal shareholders, the work was begun in July, 1859. The arrangement of the work, under the surveillance of a committee chosen by the members of the council of administration, was entrusted to Mr. D. W. Mitchell, the Secretary of the Zoological Society, London, who had come to offer his services for the creation of the new undertaking. On the sudden death of Mr. Mitchell in November, 1859, the committee took upon themselves the management of the work. In fifteen months the work was finished. On August 1, 1860, Dr. Rufz de Lavison, late President of the General Council of the Martinique, was appointed Director of the Garden, whilst M. Albert Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, the joint Director, busied himself with the hygiene and propagation of the animals. On October 6, 1860, the Emperor inaugurated the new institution in person, and a few days later the public were admitted. In 1865 Dr. Rufz de Lavison died, and M. Albert Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was made Director of the Garden. When the Siege of Paris became imminent, the majority of the animals were deposited in the Zoological Gardens at Brussels; others were confined at Antwerp. The rare birds were sent to Tours; some to M. Barnsby, Director of the Botanical Garden in that city; others to M. Cornély van Heemstra, owner of the Château de Beaujardin. During this sad time an enormous amount of work was done, the animals being transported as quickly as possible. On September 4, 1870, this evacuation began, but it was brought to a stop five days later, as the trains then ceased to run. On the other hand, M. Milne Edwards graciously offered to take into the Jardin des Plantes part of the collection of animals, on condition that they were provided with sufficient food. From that moment, and during the whole of the siege, the Garden, situated as it was outside the fortifications, went well through the sad and sudden changes of fortune. The famine which ere long besieged the city then demanded the sacrifice of all the animals. One can imagine what it cost the keepers, who were so attached to the animals they fed, to have to kill the two elephants, Castor and Pollux, the beautiful antelopes, the camels, etc. Nevertheless, when peace came, the animals which returned from the places where they had been deposited were still numerous enough to restock the Garden and put a little life into the place so long deserted.