HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G OS SIP. 



pair of bull's tusks : a pair in the Norwich Museum 

 measure 32 in. in length, and the heavier of the two 

 weighs 9 lb. 9 oz. The immensely elongated canine 

 teeth which form the "tusks," are found in both 

 sexes, but are shorter and more slender in the female 

 than in the male. The skin of the Walrus is valuable 

 for many purposes. 



Few animals, so long known to man, have, when 

 figured, been represented so inaccurately as the 

 Walrus : the hind feet are almost invariably de- 

 picted extended backwards, like those of the Seal 

 (so also in stuffed specimens), whereas in the living 

 animal they are directed to the front, and serve 

 as supports to the body in progression on the land or 

 ice, in the same manner as the hind limbs of the 

 eared seals. Dr. J. E. Gray, in an article "On the 

 Attitudes and Figures of the Morse," in the Proceed- 

 ings of the Zoological Society of London for 1853, 

 pp. 1 12-16, reproduces some of the wonderful prints 

 of this animal from old authors, most of which are 

 purely imaginary : fig. 3, j). 5 is copied from one of 

 these. By far the best portrait known, till quite 

 recently, is one published in Amsterdam in 1613, 

 where an old female and her young one are very 

 accurately depicted : this has been reproduced in 

 Bell's " British Quadrupeds," 2nd edition, p. 269. 

 Fig. 2 is copied from the " Sea Horse," in the fore- 

 ground of Cook's illustration in " A Voyage to the 

 Pacific," &c., 1784 edit, vol. ii., p. 446. Fig. i 

 is copied, by kind permission of Mr. F. Buckland, 

 from his "Log-book of a Fisherman and Zoologist," 

 and represents "Jemmy," the young Walrus, whose 

 brief sojourn in the Zoological Gardens has already 

 been referred to. One of Mr. Wolfs "Zoological 

 Sketches " represents a herd of walruses in almost 

 every conceivable attitude, and of course beautifully 

 drawn and coloured. 



It is much to be regretted that the extinction of 

 this harmless and useful animal is merely a matter 

 of time, and that perhaps before many years have 

 passed it may have ceased to exist ; the only hope 

 appears to be that when it has become too scarce to 

 render its pursuit remunerative, a remnant may still 

 be left to continue the species around the far-off and 

 unapproachable islands of the Arctic seas. 



AQUARIUM NOTES. 



" T)EN PLANT'S " twenty-years-old Eel, men- 

 -U tioned in Science -Gossir, November, 

 1876, page 263, seems likely to become of historical 

 interest, like Sir J. G. Dalyell's ancient Sea Ane- 

 mone, commonly known as " Granny " because of her 

 advanced age. The latter was taken from the sea in 

 182S, and must therefore be at least forty-eight years 

 old, if, as I doubt not, she is alive and well as when 

 I last had the pleasure of hearing of her. How much 

 plder she may be is an unknown problem : there is 



not sufficient data to go upon. The conservation of 

 aquatic animals is but of recent date. Mr. Plant 

 raises a question of great interest, ' ' How long may 

 animals be expected to live in aquaria " ? That 

 depends on many things. Humanitarian principles 

 are often left out in the dark, and animals are only 

 expected to live as long as they bring in money. If 

 an aquarium is well and humanely managed, and the 

 animals hardy, practically speaking, they may be 

 said to live for ever. Indeed, it has been queried by 

 one authority whether many marine animals ever die 

 of old age, but only from accident, as, for instance, 

 being devoured by an enemy. If the conditions of 

 existence are exactly suited, they seem to flourish 

 indefinitely, as, e.g., in the case of this long-lived 

 Eel and Sir J. G. Dalyell's aged Sea Anemone, with 

 the venerable Pike {Esox lucius) in the Fish-house 

 of Regent's Park (Zoological Gardens), who grows 

 so big he can barely turn round in his tank, and with 

 some of my own sea-anemones, that have lived com- 

 fortably with me more than a dozen years. I must 

 confess, however, that some established daisies {Sa- 

 gartia bellis) have recently died without apparent 

 cause. Is this from old age ? It is veiy unsatisfac- 

 tory not to be able to account for death. But it 

 would seem as if the second and third generations of 

 daisies born in the tank flourished better than those 

 imported, and gradually elbowed them out. If so, 

 the vexation remains ; for old friends are better than 

 new. The longer an animal lives, the more I prize 

 it ; the longer the water is kept, the more valuable it 

 becomes. Most certainly, if " Ben Plant " has kept 

 this sharp-nosed eel {Anguilla aaitirostris) for twenty 

 years in one house, let him live another twenty. Let 

 him be fed regularly enough to be healthy and happy, 

 but seldom enough to prevent his growing unneces- 

 sarily. As aquarium science advances, it becomes a 

 serious question, what is to be done with overgrown 

 specimens ? As we cannot all command tanks large 

 enough for our desires, it might be well for small 

 aquaria to supply the large, for their mutual benefit, 

 with home-grown specimens, which, being already 

 acclimatized, might be supposed to fare better than 

 new comers in the struggle for existence. Let "Ben 

 Plant" sacrifice anything to keep his eel happily 

 with his companions. If they are too many, turn 

 them out to make room for his growing dimensions. 

 If, however, the minnows, carp, sticklebacks, and 

 roach are as old as himself, the case becomes com- 

 plicated. If another tank cannot be provided, I see 

 no way but to turn him back from whence he came, 

 or to make him over to some public institution worthy 

 to receive him, — say at the Crystal Palace, or any- 

 where under the supervision of so zealous a care- 

 taker as Mr. Lloyd. At some public aquaria animal 

 life is not valued as it should be. Mr. Plant seems 

 the right sort of man to keep aquaria, and I should 

 much like to know whether the water in his tank is 

 as old as his eel? I hope that it is, for the best 



