86 THE BIRMINGHAM AQUARIUM. 



Mr. Lloyd, the Manager of that Aquarium,) in consequence of their finding 

 the Brighton Aqnarium not so successful, zoologically considered, as to the 

 health and condition of the animals, and the clearness of the water in 

 the tanks. The Crystal Palace Aquarium was found to be eminently 

 successful in these respects, the most delicate animals being maintained 

 in perfect health and almost free from those parasitic growths to which 

 they are so subject in confinement, whilst the water in the tanks was 

 beautifully transparent and briUiant. The action of the Committee 

 resulted in a proposal to construct an Aquarium in the basement story 

 of the Midland Institute Biiilding, facing the Town Hall, and plans were 

 prepared by the writer for this purpose under the advice of Mr. Lloyd, 

 who was called in to examine and reported favoiirably upon the proposal. 

 That proposal, however, had ultimately to be given up, in consequence of 

 it being found impracticable to adapt the existing building satisfactorily 

 for the desired object. The idea in this proposal had been to establish a 

 Piiblic Aquarium pure and simple, with appliances for scientific study and 

 instruction, in close connection with the Public Library and Art GaUery, 

 and supported only by a small admission charge ; the original cost of 

 construction being intended to be materially reduced by the circumstance 

 of adapting a portion of an existing building and thus avoiding the cost of 

 erecting a new building. 



It was strongly felt to be a very desirable thing for a Birmingham 

 Aquarium to be estabhshed, and that the situation of Birmingham, in 

 the centre of the country, far removed fi'om any sea-coast, would cause a 

 Marine Aquarium to be a special attraction there, and that it would be 

 both a source of great pleasure, and an object of elevating character for 

 the large population not only of the town, but also of the " Black 

 Country " neighbourhood, who may be said to have a decided turn for 

 Natural History objects as regards animals,- birds, and cottage gardens. 

 The Marine Aquarium, (as remarked by Mr. Hughes in a subsequent 

 paper read before the Natural Histoiy Society,) " appeals to the 

 two extremes of society — to the unlettered, who look with wonder 

 and curiosity on strangeness of form and beauty of colour, and to the 

 cultivated, who, from a higher point, regard with profound interest 

 details of structure and afQnities and analogies with beings of other 

 times. No greater attraction, or means of intellectual recreation for 

 the working classes of the town and neighbouring mining districts 

 could be devised, because it would be so utterly different from any 

 other existing exhibition, and so suitable as a relief and mental refi-esh- 

 ment for those in crowded courts, to whom the sea, with its living 

 wonders, is but a name. No cabinet collection of dried specimens can 

 bring to view such instances, among a thousand others, as the gi-aceful 

 px'ogress of the flat-fishes, or the weird form and muscular contractions 

 of the Cuttle-fish ; no picture can rival in colour the markings of the 

 Wrasse, or the living fire of the eyes of the Dragonct ; no library can give 

 the student such a clear idea of the inhabitants of the sea from mere 

 description, sCs can the contemplation of the actual living beings them- 

 selves. As a utilitarian agency for the solution of undetermined points 

 in biology, the Aquarium may, in some measure, help in an-iving at a 



