DIFFERENT WAYS OF SWIMMING 



for its purpose. It is built on part of the site of the 

 harbour of ancient Carthage, just by the old circular 

 redoubt. The Carthaginians were hardy sailors. The 

 sea was the source of their commercial prosperity and, 

 at the same time, provided them with their daily food 

 supply. Navigation and fishing were their favourite 

 occupations. When the Romans came, they adopted 

 the same point of view: they gave their keenest 

 attention to the art of the fisherman as well as that of 

 the farmer. The beautiful mosaics with which they 

 decorated their houses often represented scenes of 

 fishing, and depicted fishes. The importance of the 

 fishing industry in our day is evidenced by the appli- 

 cation of scientific study to it and by the establishment 

 of laboratories like this station. 



The station, like others of the same sort, has an 

 aquarium, the tanks of which contain live fishes and 

 other animals of the coast. One can examine them, 

 observe them, experiment upon them, follow the course 

 of their lives ; they appear here exactly as they are in 

 nature, without disguise. Through the thick plate of 

 transparent glass, we see them moving about quite 

 freely in the water. The largest tanks afford, in their 

 few cubic feet of water, space sufficient to allow the 

 aspects of reality to be reproduced. They provide, as 

 it were, a portion of the sea which may be observed at 

 leisure. I find most of the fishes caught in the crawl 

 displayed in such a way that it becomes simple to 

 find out all about them! I see them everywhere in 

 the water, approaching, going away, sometimes on a 

 level with me, sometimes from above, and sometimes 

 from underneath. I can watch them turn and bend, 

 without missing a single movement. One could not 

 wish for anything more perfectly fitted for its purpose: 

 here can be observed under perfect conditions all the 

 various ways in which the different species swim. 



I look, and look. Other visitors look too, fascinated 

 by a scene so different from that to which they are 

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