SOUTH FOR T AQUA RIUM. 1 69 



the circulating stream, reservoirs might not be done 

 away with altogether, substituting in their place a 

 mere well or cistern, for the reception of the water 

 flowing over from the tanks and feeding of the pumps." 



The Southport Aquarium has rather a strange 

 combination of the two methods of circulation and 

 aeration which we have been discussing, viz. those at 

 the Crystal Palace and at Brighton ; one half being 

 on one plan, and one half on the other. We under- 

 stand, however, that recently the Brighton method 

 has been given up, notwithstanding the adjacency of 

 the Southport Aquarium to the sea; so that the 

 whole management is now carried on after the Syden- 

 ham fashion. The Southport institution has a large 

 number of tanks ; and here, as at the Crystal Palace 

 and some other places, the commendatory plan of in- 

 scribing the names of the objects on the sides of the 

 tanks is carried out. It is absurd to compel everyone 

 to purchase a guide book before he can understand 

 what fish, &c., are before him ! The new arrivals of 

 objects intended for public aquaria are usually placed 

 in special and private tanks, until they are deemed 

 sufficiently acclimatised to be transferred to the show 

 tanks. 



In this state of captivity the animals, if healthy, 

 soon feed heartily. For this purpose, at the Crystal 

 Palace Aquarium and elsewhere, twenty-two special 

 tanks are kept in which to preserve alive the crabs, 

 shrimps, fish, &c., intended for food. The introduction 



