THE WORK OF THE NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The Zoological Society has performed an important service for the city of New York by the establishment and conduct of a Zoological Park and later by taking charge of the Aquarium. The relations of the society to the city are similar to those of the trustees of the American Museum of Natural History, of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Botanical Garden, but are somewhat unusual. In each case the city provides the buildings and the cost of maintenance, while a private corporation supplies the collections and is responsible for the conduct of the institution. The plan appears to have worked very well, as j each institution has had a strong organization, free from any political control, but effective in obtaining large appropriations from the city and considerable private gifts.
The fourteenth annual report of the Zoological Society lays emphasis on increasing the scientific work done both at the park and the aquarium. The institutions have been extremely successful in gathering and maintaining large collections of animals and interesting the public in them; but they have not as yet been able to undertake
i research work comparable in value. The director of the aquarium writes in his report, "The small aquarium at Naples has made Naples famous." It is not, however, the exhibition tanks, but the research work and publications
1 of the station which have added to the fame of Naples. The entertainment and instruction of the public is an important function for the city to undertake, and the money devoted to these purposes at the Zoological Park and the Aquarium is well spent. But money used for research is not spent at all; it is invested for the permanent benefit of all the people. Zoological gardens have hitherto emphasized scientific work less than have botanical gardens, but there are problems of comparative psychology and comparative pathology to which collections of
The Administration Building of the New York Zoological Society.
