ondon, one of the greatest attractions, if not the
chief, is the American beaver: an assemblage of a number of these on the
banks of the Schuylkill, giving an opportunity of witnessing their
astonishing sagacity, would of itself be an attractive exhibition.

The Zoological Society of Philadelphia was incorporated by act of the
Legislature of Pennsylvania, approved March 21, 1859. The site selected
at that time, and approved by City Councils, was five acres of the
extreme south-eastern corner of the then Park, consisting of Sedgeley
and Lemon Hill, and containing about two hundred acres. A meeting of
certain prominent and influential citizens interested in the subject was
held, and the matter carefully discussed. At subsequent meetings a
constitution and by-laws were adopted, officers elected and plans
proposed for raising the necessary funds. The officers of the society at
that time were as follows: President, Dr. William Camac;
Vice-Presidents, William R. Lejee and James C. Hand; Recording
Secretary, Fairman Rogers; Corresponding Secretary, Dr. John L. LeConte;
Treasurer, P. Pemberton Morris; Managers, Frederick Graeff, Thomas
Dunlap, Charles E. Smith, John Cassin, William S. Vaux, J. Dickinson
Sergeant, Dr. Wilson C. Swann, W. Parke Foulke, Francis R. Cope and
Samuel Powel; Trustees of the Permanent Fund, Evans Rogers, Charles
Macalester and James Dundas.[A]

Soon after this the rebellion broke out, and in the clash of arms, the
terrible anxieties of the times, and the fevered pursuit of wealth that
followed the inflation of the currency, the subject of zoological
gardens entirely disappeared. Many of those whose names appear as
officially connected with the association, and whose purses and
influence would now be warmly exerted in its favor, have passed away, to
the irreparable loss of the society. Those who remain have revived the
project with sanguine hopes of its accomplishment. The increased wealth
since the inception of the idea in 1859, the enlarged size of the Park,
the growth of the city and the prospect of the Centennial, have widened
the views of the society, and it is confidently anticipated that a
Garden will be established, with a collection and all the necessary
appurtenances, that will equal in a few years the superb one of London.
The strangers that will flock here in 1876 will one and all visit the
Zoological Gardens if in any sort of condition for display at that time.
In 1851, the year of the grea