10 



Feeding the Fish. 



The lish are fed regularly every day, and their food consists of fish or meat cliojiped up 

 into pieces about the size of the top of one finger : they especially favour jiilcliard. Visitors 

 sliould make a point of watching the fish at feeding time, as the various methods of tlie ditferent 

 species in taking their food can be watched with interest. Others feed on small crustacea, or on 

 the sea-weed which is placed in the tanks. They also eat mnssels very freely. When possible 

 they are always provided with live food, in order to prevent any detritus accumulating. A 

 favorable food is boiled crayfish. 



The Public Aquarium is essentially a modern development, dating its origin tVoni the year 

 1853, when a "fish-house" was established at the Zoological Gardens, in London. As a 

 sign of ninctecntb cmtiu-y progress, it may not take so high a rank as the steam-engine, the 



electric telegraph. Im- 

 perial federation, and 

 (itlier atlvanced move- 

 ments ; but, without 

 doulit, it possesses 

 highly useful j)Ossibili- 

 fies, Itoth as a source 

 I if harndess amusement 

 and as a ]iopular educa- 

 tor. Already it has 

 lieljied to (lis))el some 

 (if the ancient myths 

 I if the ocean world, and 

 other fiibles of the deep 

 are fast <lisa]ipearing 

 into the regions of 

 poetry and fiction. The 

 uarlauded nereids have 

 retired into grottoes 

 unknown, and Neptune himself is now as much out ot coiu't as ii he had never l)een saved 

 by ;Metis' potion. Sirens and mermaids no longer allure the unwary sailor, for they have 

 become so rare that even Baruum cannot find one. The great cuttled krakeu, which Bishop 

 I'outoppidan described as like a living island, which many Vielieved («uld eucdose a three-masted 

 shi]) in thi' fatal grasp of its sucking arms, and which even Liunreus included in the first edition of 

 ills S>/st('iiia JS^aturcB, is now an acknowledged creation of tancy : and the sea serjient, that last 

 remnant of the fabled past, is raj>idly losing credit. Although perhaps we may cast a lingering and 

 regretful glance on the vanishing myths which charmed and entranced our forefathers, still we 

 can console ourselves with the reflection that we stand on a higher platform when we substitute 

 the study of fact for the credence of fiction. Icthyology and cognate terms are suggestive of 

 ponderous " dry-as-dust " treatises, but the study of fishes and other marine life can be carried on 

 without dulness. " Dulness does not exist in science is the dictum of an eminent English sacaxt, 

 ;ind it is certain that fish life, whether observed from a river bank with an angler's rod and line, 

 or viewed through the less exciting medium of the glass side of an Aquarium tank, affords endless 

 food for interesting reflection. 



" Wcinderful indeed are all His works, 

 Pleasant to kuow and worthiest to be all 

 Had in remembrance always with delight ; 

 lint what created mind can compreliend 

 Their number, or the wisdom infinite 

 That brought them forth, but hid their causes deep ? " — Milion. 



Although Aquaria, as we now understand them, are institutions of a modern growth, the 

 purpose which they serve was in very active operation many years ago. Independently of the 

 (Jliinese and Japanese, who, from the earliest times, have been in the habit of keeping domestic 

 fish for their amusement, the ancient Romans carried the art of pisciculture to a very high pitch 



