18.-THE AQUARIUM OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION AT THE 



WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR. 



BY S. A. FORBES, 



Professor of Zoology, University of Illinois. 



The aquarium of the United States Fish Commission was universally regarded 

 as one of the most attractive features of the World's Columbian Exposition, having 

 been a source of wonder and delight for months to several millions of people.* Its 

 early readiness for the visitors, at a time when most of the exhibition areas were 

 cheerless wastes of seemingly hopeless disorder, gave it a prompt popularity, which 

 neither the inspirations of the Art Gallery, the diversions of the Plaisance, nor the 

 glories of the Court of Honor served at any time materially to lessen. It was a place 

 of marvels for the populace, and especially for the native of the Mississippi Valley, 

 who, although an industrious fisherman, may rarely have seen a fish distinctly in the 

 muddy waters of his streams and lakes, and to whom the forms and actions of many of 

 the most abundant animals of the sea were as novel as if the contents of our tanks 

 had been made to order for our special use. 



A brief account of the means and methods by which these results were reached in 

 the space of a few months; of the difficulties inherent in the plan and in the situation; 

 of the failures and successes of the enterprise — both sufficiently numerous to make 

 the administration of it a decidedly interesting task ; and especially of the new facts 

 and experiences resulting, may perhaps be profitable to others in kindred fields, and 

 even deserving of some attention from a larger public. 



An aquarium is intended to be a bit of aquatic nature brought within the easy 

 reach of man, with as little disturbance of natural conditions and relations as the 

 circumstances will permit, and with the most faithful representation possible of such 

 conditions and circumstances as it is nevertheless necessary to disturb or destroy. Its 

 only worthy dependence for sources of interest is on that love of nature, and especially 

 of living nature, common among unspoiled men, and often the redeeming trait of those 

 otherwise quite sophisticated. To present and represent living nature faithfully, 

 without unworthy tricks to catch attention, and especially without falsehood or any 

 other kind of deception, but still to do this by means and in a way which will justify 



Note. — This article, iuteuded originally for the Fisheries Congress held in October, 1893, has been 

 revised in part, to include results reached during the closing days of the exposition season. 



*For some hours each day, during a large part of the season, entrances to the aquarium averaged 



from 100 to 150 per minute, packing the corridors to the limit of their capacity. Many thousands 



daily were turned back at the doors by the overcrowded condition of the building, or forced to content 



themselves with a hurried and distant glance at the exhibit. 



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