THE AQUARIUM, OCTOBER, 1895. 



matter, quickly restored purity and 

 clearness to the water. In 1852, he 

 experimented with sea-water and its 

 occupants, with equal success. To Mr. 

 Gosse, however, the well-known natur- 

 alist, may be attributed the popularity 

 of the aquarium which is certainly the 

 purest of all household recreations. His 

 first work on the subject, somewhere 

 about the year 1855, was read with 

 avidity, and although the London 

 Punch levelled its keenest wit and sat- 

 ire against the new mania, and pointed 

 to all the mishaps which might befall 

 housekeepers by the breaking of the 

 aquarium and the consequent deluging 

 of carpets, the passion for aquaria grew, 

 and in 1857 they may be said to have 

 been formally established in England. 

 In that year, one of the quarterly Re- 

 views remarked that the making and 

 stocking of these had created a new and 

 important branch in commercial indus- 

 try. In 1856, Barnum introduced into 

 New York the first of what he styled — 

 ' Ocean and River Gardens," and a few 

 months afterwards they were for sale, 

 of all sorts and sizes, for private use. 

 Before that, the glass globe for gold- 

 fish was the only representative of the 

 new apparatus. In keeping an aqua- 

 rium, very little is wanted besides the 

 tank itself. It is well to have an india- 

 rubber tube or a siphon for drawing off 

 the water when necessary ; a wooden 

 forceps for removing any object, and a 

 sponge stick for cleaning the glass, to- 

 gether with a small, fine-meshed hand 

 net for handling any of the inmates if 

 need be. 



Some years ago, when residing in 

 New York State, I was attached to one 

 of the military colleges affiliated with 

 West Point ; and one of the first 

 things that I did to engage the inter- 

 ests of the cadets under my charge, 



was to turn their minds, during leisure 

 hours, to the study of Natural History. 

 As I was at that time making collec- 

 tions of all kinds, I enlisted them in 

 the work of procuring specimens, and 

 I organized, on our Saturday holiday, 

 field jiarties among the woods and 

 mountains in the vicinity of the college, 

 along the Hudson River. This was 

 just at the time when aquaria were in 

 vogue, and I took advantage of the 

 first visit that I paid to New York, to 

 purchase an aquarium for my own pri- 

 vate use, which I kept in my quarters, 

 open to the inspection of all who wished 

 to see it. This was over thirty years 

 ago, and that I still have the aquarium 

 in almost as good condition as when I 

 purchased it, is, I think, sufficient evi- 

 dence that it was well adapted for its 

 purpose. It is a comparatively small 

 one, being only fifteen by nine inches. 

 I think I may say it has done its full 

 share in the way of attracting attention 

 to " Life below the water." The first 

 great difficulty I had to contend with 

 was the multiplicity of objects that 

 were brought to me for it by my 

 cadets. 



You would be astonished if I were to 

 give you all the varied suggestions that 

 were made respecting what should con- 

 stitute the floor of the tank, some rec- 

 ommending small pebbles, others gravel 

 or sand, till finally a compromise was 

 effected to the satisfaction of all, by 

 giving each of the proposed materials 

 its own place. Experience afterwards 

 showed that a little clean river sand is 

 the safest ground work for all purposes. 

 Then there was the natural inquisitive- 

 ness of boyhood to combat. Whilst 

 the novelty was at its height, the in- 

 mates were subjected to all sorts of 

 ordeals, such as poking up with a stick, 

 to see if they were lively ; and a contm- 



