82 



THE AQUARIUM, JANUARY, 1897. 



every species of trout is already repre- 

 sented by good specimens. All the 

 animals were in good condition ; we 

 noticed only a few specimens that were 

 affected with fungus, but these being 

 new arrivals, will, under j^roper treat- 

 ment, soon recover. 



The Aquarium proves already a great 

 attraction to all classes. On the first 

 Saturday, December 12th, between fif- 



Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, 

 Superintendent of the N. Y. Aquarium. 



teen and sixteen thousand people vis- 

 ited it during the six hours that it was 

 open to them. Fifteen policemen were 

 constantly busy to keep order. At 

 about 3 P. M. of that day we estimated 

 the crowd before the tanks to number 

 four thousand people. 



The Aquarium will be open to the 

 public all the year round, from 10 A. 

 M. till 4 P. M., six days in the week, 

 including Sunday. Mondays it will be 

 closed to the public, as it is necessary 

 to have one day each week for the ex- 

 clusive use of the management. The 

 admission is free to everybody. 



The running expenses of an institu- 

 tion of this kind, for which the city of 



New York has expended nearly half a 

 million of dollars, is quite considerable. 

 There is the superintendent with two 

 assistants, a bookkeeper, three engi- 

 neers, several laborers, porters, door- 

 keepers, day and night watchmen and 

 policemen. Besides the salaries for 

 these there is the coal bill for the 

 pumping engine and the heating of 

 the huge building ; the regular supply 

 of food for the animals, and last, but 

 not least, the losses caused by the death 

 of specimens. In our estimation, the 

 expenses for running the New York 

 Aquarium will be somewhere between 

 $35,000 and $50,000 per annum. 



Now since the New York aquarium 

 is opened before us, it will be interest- 

 ing to our readers to learn something 

 regarding its origin. 



At our arrival in New Y'ork City 

 from Cincinnati shortly before Christ- 

 mas, 1888, one of the first parties we 

 called upon was one of the Fish Com- 

 missioners of New York, with whom 

 we had had dealings for years. The 

 conversation drifted from our aquarium 

 work in general to that of our fish dis- 

 play at the Cincinnati Centennial Ex- 

 position, from July 4th to November 

 10, 1888, of which reports had reached 

 interested parties. At future meetings, 

 at which aquarium talk formed the 

 main topic, we arrived at the conclu- 

 sion that the great metropolis lacked 

 one great institution, — a public aqua- 

 rium. 



At this period the Columbian Expo- 

 sition project was cultivated, and New 

 York City expected to have the great 

 ''Fair" within its borders. In con- 

 nection with the display of the Fisher- 

 ies Industries it was planned that the 

 Fish Commissioners of the various 

 States and also that of the United 

 States should make a grand display of 



