40 



THE AQUARIUM BULLETIN 



The Significance of Balanced Aquaria 

 in a Museum 



By Miss Anna B. Gallup 



( Curator of Children's Museum, 



Brooklyn) 



There are now twelve balanced 

 aquaria on display in the Children's 

 Museum. They are of sizes varying 

 from a capacity of 50 gallons to less 

 than two quarts and have all been 

 stocked through the courtesy of The 

 Brooklyn Aquarium Society, Inc. 

 Many of them are like the aquaria 

 shown in the frontpiece of this paper; 

 all are furnished with varieties of 

 aquatic plants and animals, and all are 

 in a flourishing condition. 



The object of the Society in mani- 

 festing such generosity toward the 

 Children's Museum was to impart to 

 young boys and girls some of the 

 enthusiasm which surely develops 

 when one begins to study water forms 

 seriously. It was thought that if the 

 children could observe these creatures 

 alive and see the caretakers in th<? 

 Museum set up the tanks, balance the 

 stock, feed the animals, and clean the 

 aquaria properly that they would 

 absorb many facts. It is easy to 

 learn by seeing operations performed 

 by expert hands. Then it was known 

 also that the Museum had a Docent, 

 Miss Ruth, who is always present to 

 give information about what is being 

 done in different departments. Con- 

 versations with her about the "water- 

 babies" would stimulate new interest 

 and lire ambition. 



Furthermore there is a Nature Li- 

 brary in the Museum, the like of 

 which does not exist elsewhere in 

 Brooklyn. In it are books- — easy ones 

 for beginners and more difficult ones 

 for advanced students — all containing 

 information. As if that were hot 



enough ,the Museum conducts courses 

 oi lectures about animals and plants. 

 These lectures are illustrated with 

 colored lantern slides that show many 

 facts closely related to the facts to be 

 observed in connection with the living 

 forms: and last of all, but by no 

 means the least important, are the 

 objects in the Museum collections 

 which can be studied in season and 

 out of season whether the living rep- 

 resentatives happen to be in the 

 aquaria or not. 



Because it is able to furnish so 

 man}' different kinds of assistance to 

 young students, the Museum is an 

 ideal place in which to exhibit 

 balanced aquaria for study purposes. 



As proof of the above statement we 

 recall many "easy lessons" that 

 beginners have learned. Every child 

 lingers in the presence of the brightly 

 colored, graceful fishes. With the 

 help of the enlarged model of a fish 

 in the Type Room, many have learned 

 the parts of a fish and how 7 each part, 

 such as the fins, tail, gills, gill-covers 

 and air bladder functions. "How to 

 look at a fish" has become a serious 

 pursuit of many of our Children's 

 Museum League Members. Different 

 phases of this theme have been chosen 

 as subjects of papers and discussions 

 by these young scientists at their 

 regular meetings. 



With their powers of observation 

 improved through the education and 

 training thus afforded, children begin 

 to take notes of other things. Dif- 

 ferences in form, structure, color and 

 habits among the fishes gradually 



