THE REPTILE HOUSE, No. 34.
The Reptile House was the first large building erected in the Zoological Park. It represents an earnest effort to present carefully selected examples of the reptilian Orders, in a manner which may afford the visitor and the student a general view of the important groups of living reptiles.
The length of the Reptile House, over all, is 146 feet, and its greatest width is 100 feet. It is constructed of buff mottled brick, combined with granite and Indiana limestone. In the ornamental cornice of terra cotta, reptilian forms modelled by Mr. A. Phimister Proctor, the well-known animal sculptor, constitute an important feature. The building is roofed with slate, heated by hot water, and cost, with its cages, about $50,000. It is beautifully situated on the edge of a forest of primeval oaks, very near the geographical center of the Park.
The great center hall is unbroken by a single column, and at one end it opens across the Crocodile Pool and its sandbanks, through three huge arches, into the green, jungly mass of the conservatory. Of the tropical vegetation massed behind the pool—palmettoes, bayonet cacti, yuccas, and the like, and the tillandsias, Spanish moss, resurrection ferns, and butterfly orchids,—nearly the whole came from Florida, along with five alligators which were the first occupants of the pool.
In effect, the central hall appears to be 115 feet in length, by 40 feet wide, exclusive of the cages. But, large as this building is, it would be an easy matter to fill all its available space with the reptiles of North America alone, choosing only the handsome and showy forms. As we contemplate the great number of species in our own reptilian fauna, the thought occurs, what can we do with the reptiles of the Old World? Manifestly, the only proper course is to choose from the reptiles of the world the forms which will make for our visitors and students the most instructive and attractive series of important types.
SYNOPSIS OF THE CLASS REPTILIA.
On April 1, 1913, all these examples are on exhibition in the Reptile House:
| ORDERS. | CONSPICUOUS EXAMPLES. | LOCALITY. |
|---|---|---|
| LIVING REPTILES. | ||
| Turtles, or Chelonia. | ||
| Aligator Turtle | Louisiana. | |
| Snapping Turtle | Zoological Park. | |
| Box Turtle | Zoological Park. | |
| Giant Tortoise | Galapagos Island. | |
| Gopher Tortoise | Florida. | |
| Painted Turtle | New York. | |
| Green Turtle (marine) | New York. | |
| Soft-shelled Turtle | Indiana. | |
| Saurians, or Crocodilia. | ||
| Alligator | Florida. | |
| Florida Crocodile | Southern Florida. | |
| Broad-nosed Crocodile | Africa. | |
| Lizards, or Lacertilia. | ||
| Iguana (I. tuberculata) | West Indies. | |
| Horned “Toad” | Arizona. | |
| Green Lizard (L. viridis) | Europe. | |
| Monitor | Ceylon. | |
| “Glass Snake” | Florida. | |
| Gila Monster | Arizona. | |
| Chameleon | Africa. | |
| Serpents, or Ophidia. | ||
| Harmless. | ||
| Regal Python | Malay Peninsula. | |
| Anaconda | British Guiana. | |
| Black Snake (B. constrictor) | Zoological Garden. | |
| Garter Snake | Zoological Park. | |
| Hog-Nosed Snake | Zoological Park. | |
| Venomous. | ||
| Coral Snake | Florida. | |
| Cobra de Capello | India. | |
| Diamond-Backed Rattlesnake | Florida. | |
| Water Moccasin | Florida. | |