134 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



aquarium construction to park departments, chambers of com- 

 merce and private associations in such cities as Boston, Buffalo, 

 Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Gal- 

 veston, St. Louis and Philadelphia. Detroit has already built a 

 small aquarium which has an annual attendance of over 800,000 

 and which the Commissioner of Parks informs me is now con- 

 sidered an absolutely indispensable institution in that city. 

 Officers of Harvard University are making renewed efforts to 

 secure an aquarium for Boston and Professor Agassiz stated to 

 me on a recent visit to New York that other cities should un- 

 doubtedly build public aquariums. 



President Jordan of Stanford University expressed great 

 interest in our Aquarium which he visited in November and 

 proposes to renew the movement for an aquarium in San Fran- 

 cisco. 



New York should not neglect its opportunity for develop- 

 ing its own Aquarium into a great marine museum which would 

 unquestionably lead all other city institutions in the entertain- 

 ment and instruction of its people. 



The location of the New York Aquarium is ideal. With the 

 subway extended to Brooklyn its attendance at once increased 

 and it is now almost as well located with respect to Brooklyn as 

 it is to Manhattan. 



The new water system was rendered necessary by the im- 

 possibility of maintaining a collection of fishes in a foul water 

 supply, without constant restocking, and has not only contrib- 

 uted to the permanence of the exhibits but has, during the past 

 year, resulted in a saving of more than $1,000 in coal bills. 

 Without this extra thousand so saved by economical administra- 

 tion, it would not have been possible to finish the present year 

 without a deficit nearly equal to that sum. There have been 

 numerous breakdowns due to the unfortunate combination of 

 machinery and salt water. Experience is showing that such 

 expenses cannot be avoided in an aquarium. 



If it is argued that the Aquarium has already a large enough 

 collection, why not apply the same argument to the other City 

 museums, which are not only of enormous size, but which are 

 now building wings and making every effort to secure additional 

 collections of all classes. 



If our present City collections of living and mounted ani- 

 mals, or of fossils, or paintings or other museum exhibits, are 

 not large enough, why place a limit on the collections of our 

 Aquarium which although a small one is more important than 



