AQUARIAN ANIMALS. 1/5 



CHAPTER XI. 



MAMMALIA, REPTILIA, AND FISHES OF PUBLIC 

 MARINE AQUARIA. 



THE enormous size of the largest tanks belonsfincr 



o o o 



to our public aquaria, and the manner in which the 

 mechanism of aeration and circulation of the water 

 has been perfected, have rendered it possible to ex- 

 hibit living animals of all kinds whose lives are passed 

 amid aquatic conditions. Hence, such /^-breathing 

 animals as porpoises, grampuses, seals, sea-lions, alli- 

 gators, crocodiles, and turtles, may be now maintained 

 for a time, with almost as much ease as objects of a 

 smaller size. The chief difficulty seems to be, not 

 merely in maintaining these huge creatures in a healthy 

 condition, but in capturing and transferring them un- 

 injured to the tanks. As has already been stated, it 

 is usual to keep the captured animals in places ap- 

 pointed for the purpose, until they are more or less 

 acclimatised, before they are turned out for public 

 exhibition. This transitional stage seems to be neces- 

 sary in the cases of most animals. Within the next 

 few years our public aquaria will be enriched with 

 many other species of huge fresh-water and marine 

 animals, for one of the tanks at Brighton is almost 



