290 Dr. J.E. Gray on the Acclimatization of Animals. 
ceivable number of rows of allied or cognate species, having no in- 
terest whatever except for the advanced zoological student. 
I will only add that I am perfectly satisfied, from observation 
and experience, and that I believe the opinion is rapidly gaining 
ground, that the scientific student would find a collection solely 
devoted to the object of study, and preserved in boxes and drawers, 
far more useful and available for scientific purposes than the stuffed 
Specimens as at present arranged in galleries of immense extent, and 
crowded with curious and bewildered spectators ; while, on the other 
hand, the general public would infinitely better understand, and 
consequently more justly appreciate, a well-chosen and well-exhibited 
selection of a limited number of specimens, carefully arranged to 
exhibit special objects of general interest, and to afford a complete 
series for elementary instruction, than miles of glass cases containing 
thousands upon thousands of specimens, all exhibited in a uniform 
manner, and placed like soldiers at a review. 
I now turn to a very different subject—one which has always oc- 
cupied a considerable share of my attention, and on which a few 
observations may not be out of place on this occasion—viz. the 
acclimatization of animals. This subject, which has been a favourite 
one with the more thoughtful student, appears all at once to have 
become popular; and several associations have been formed for the 
especial purpose of its promotion, not only in this country, but also 
on the Continent and in the Australian colonies. 
I may observe that the acclimatization of animals, and especially 
the introduction and cultivation of fish, was among the peculiar ob- 
jects put forward by the Zoological Society at the time of its founda- 
tion, nearly forty years ago—although, as we all know, it has been 
able to do very little for its promotion. 
It would appear, from observations that are occasionally to be 
met with in the public papers and in other journals, to be a pre- 
valent opinion among the patrons of some of these associations that 
scientific zoologists are opposed to their views, or, at least, lukewarm 
on the subject. But Iam convinced that they are totally mistaken in 
such a notion, and that it can only have originated in the expression 
of a belief, founded on experience, that some of the schemes of the 
would-be acclimatizers are incapable of being carried out, and would 
never have been suggested if their promoters had been better ac- 
quainted with the habits and manners of the animals on which the 
experiments are proposed to be made. 
The term acclimatization has been employed in several widely 
different senses :—Ist, as indicating the domestication of animals 
now only known in the wild state; 2ndly, to express the intro- 
duction of the domesticated animals of one country into another; 
3rdly, the cultivation of fishes, &c., by the restocking of rivers, the 
colonization of ponds, or the renovating of worn-out oyster- or pearl- 
fisheries by fresh supplies. 
Commencing with the first of these objects, which is by many 
regarded as the most important, I would observe that some animals 
