THE NEW •• FOSSIL AQUARIUM " 



By liashfoid Doiii 



FOSSIL (islics have a s])cc'ial incaninii to those who seek \\\i\\\ \\\nn\ the 

 liistory <if the l)ackl)oiie(l animals. Tlicy occur in practically all 

 layers of rock which yield fossils, ha\iim li\c<l diiriiii;' a loiiu'ci- 

 ran,i;i' in time than amphihians, rej)tiles and manunals; and it is well known 

 that in the suct-ession of the fishes from aye to aii'c, one can trace the chan<:es 

 which lia\(' taken place in ihcir kinds and can show how some kinds hecainc 

 transformed into others, and thus how cxohition proceedccl. 



How(>\-er intci-estiiiii' this may he in theory, cN'eryone will admit that 

 it is a diflicnll matter to make clear to the Museum's \isitor the lesson of 

 fossil fishes, or even to display them in an attractive way. As a rule the\' 

 a})pear in slahs of rock only as faint impressions of what they were in life, 

 and he who enters the fossil fish gallery, if he has no knowlcdu'c of hshes. is 

 not af)t to examine these slahs of rock attentively and try to learn their 

 meaning'. He is more interested when he sees models of li\inu fishes ])laced 

 side by side with their fossil relati\'es, and he is still more interested if he 

 sees a restoration, better in a cast than in a picture, of the fossils them- 

 selves. Su<'h a restoration may in many cases he lefi;itimately provided 

 since the fossil fishes in their muncrous specimens give the facts clearly 

 ui)on which models can he prepared. 



.\ "fossil a(iuarium" has now been put on exhibition in the li.^li uallcry. 

 \N ith it is a label explainitiji' the I)e\'onian a<ii', naming;" the fishes illus- 

 trated and telling how the more ancient groups are gi\ing place to the 

 more modern ones. Thus it is shown that the race of bony fishes, which 

 represents about ninety-nine ])er cent of all li\ing fishes, had not yet 

 appeared; that on the other hand, the tribe of stm-geons and gar])ikc, now 

 almost extinct, made u]) about a (juarter of all Devonian forms; that 

 sharks, which arc but a small fractional percentage of all living fishes, made 

 \\\) al)iiul onc-tliii'd of all kimls then known; while finally, that the placo- 

 deinis, a grou|) long extinct and c\cn of uncertain kinships, constituted 

 foi'ty per cent of the ancient fish fauna. 



In pre|)aring this "fossil aquarium," questions as to the nature of the 

 water, the character of the bottom and its vegetation were iuNcstigated by 

 Dr. Ilussakof; the models of the fishes were jireparcd after restorations of 

 specialists, but re\ ised in numerous i)oints in accordance with actual s])cci- 

 mens. The colors could not, of course, be gi\-en infallibly; the Ixst that 

 could be done was to folhtw the nearest li\ ing relatives of the ancient 

 forms. The de>ign (»f the grouj) and the color woi-k wci'c carrie(l out by 

 Ml-. ( 'li;irle-~ I!. Kniglit , and his result -^ are realistic and at tract ixc. 



