632 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 



When combined, as they advautageously are, with reading rooms, con- 

 servatories, promenades, concert halls, and places for refreshment, they 

 become places of popular resort, especially in the evenings, and they 

 exert a most salutary influence upon the mass of the people. Indeed 

 they are real blessings to the large class of persons, in manufacturing 

 cities especially, without attractions at home, who would otherwise 

 spend their evenings at the drinking saloons, at cheap theaters, or in 

 vicious wandering through the streets. 



Aquariums are particularly attractive and beneficial to the young, 

 cultivating habits of close observation, acquainting them with various 

 and little-known forms of life, the forms and habits of fishes, and en- 

 couraging the study of natural objects generally. They may also be 

 made to contribute largely to pisciculture generally, promoting our 

 knowledge of the art of fish-breeding and stocking of our waters with 

 food-fishes. 



The outlay for such undertakings, compared with the results, is mod- 

 erate, and the expense of maintenance is very small. Within certain 

 limits, modified of course by the conditions of the locality, the popula- 

 tion, &c., the largest and most liberally projected succeed best. The an- 

 nual cash profit ranges from 6 to 30 per cent, on the outlay, and the 

 value of the property and the income are constantly increasing. 



Fairmount Park has great natural advantages for the construction of 

 an aquarium, not only of fresh but of sea water, and the favorable op- 

 portunity to establish one there in connection with the Exhibition in 1876 

 should not be lost sight of. It should be independent of the Exhibition 

 in its organization, but might be tributary to its success while deriving 

 great advantages from it. 



I was impressed while abroad with the importance of this subject in 

 connection with the work of the Commission, and therefore took some 

 pains to obtain the information presented in the following notes. 



My acknowledgments are especially due to Mr. Birch, engineer of 

 the aquarium at Brighton and at Scarborough ; to Mr. Theodore L. 

 Witt, engineer of the Vienna Aquarium ; and to Mr. G. Fuberi at Ber- 

 lin. 



VIENNA AQUARIUM. 



The Vienna Aquarium, located near the Exhibition, was completed 

 during the summer, and added to the attractions of the Prater. It was 

 independent of the Exhibition, being erected by a joint stock company 

 with Baron Albert v. Klein-Wisenberg at its head. A concession of 

 level land was obtained from the court. An ornate building of one 

 high story, about 200 feet long and 100 feet wide, was erected upon 

 a plan founded on the studies made of all existing aquariums by H. 

 Nowak and the engineer Theodore L. Witt. It is constructed of brick 

 and stucco, and is approached by a high flight of steps. All of the ex- 

 hibition tanks are upon the main floor. The outline plan annexed will 



