204 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[November, 



considered salt-water aquaria, it is by 

 no means intended to neglect the at- 

 tractions of the inhabitants of fresh- 

 water, but to enlarge upon this por- 

 tion of the subject would require to 

 extend the article to an undue length. 

 Public aquaria have not generally 

 proved financially successful. Even 

 now we would not advise any one to 

 start one with a view to profit on the 

 investment. Nevertheless, there can 

 be no doubt that with proper manage- 

 ment the running expenses could be 

 paid from the beginning, and after a 

 while funds would begin to accumu- 

 late. But we do not advocate this as 

 a business scheme. It is advocated 

 as a means jf instruction for young 

 and old, the founders of which will be 

 entitled to the gratitude of the many 

 ^who will be benefited thereby. Aquaiia 

 have failed in die past because of bad 

 .management, due, we may say, to im- 

 perfect knowledge of the conditions of 

 success, 0-, when established for pur- 

 poses of eain alone, because the man- 

 ao-ers ha-e endeavored to draw the 

 people n'ter the manner of a circus 

 menagere. Those that have been 

 managec economically have not 

 failed. 



Few )laces are more favorably sit- 

 uated or marine aquaria than New 

 York :nd Boston, especially the latter 

 city, hiug so near the haunts of marine 

 animrls of great variety. But even in 

 Chicago, were it not for the difficulty 

 of keeping the more delicate animals 

 aliveduring the long journey from the 

 sea-oard, a marine aquarium could 

 be maintained as perfectly as on the 

 coa?t. Even such difficulties can be 

 ovtfcome, but not without consider- 

 abe expense. 



.Vow that the experience of the last 



ten years has shown how an aquarium 



s'ould be managed, may we not hope 



t) see in America, one that sh' 11 rival 



aose of England and lua-ope ? It re- 



luires no costly edifice, nor a very 



great outlay for fitting up. The cost 



can be very accurately calculated. 



But let whoever undertakes the task 



not go at it blind-fold. No mere busi- 



ness man can run an aquarium. It 

 requires experience and knowledge 

 which cannot be obtained from books 

 alone. There must be a good natural- 

 ist at the head of it, who is deeply in- 

 terested in his work, or the result will 

 surely be disappointing. 



New Members of the Infusorial 

 Order Choaiio-Flagellata, S. K. 



BY DR. ALFRED C. STOKES. 



If our American waters had been 

 extensively or systematically fished 

 for microscopic fry, W. Saville Kent's 

 magnificent monograph on the Infu- 

 soria would have contained many 

 more references to the names of 

 American workers among the animal- 

 cules, for our ponds are rich in mate- 

 rial; yet the fishers seem to be few. 

 Dr. Leidy and (he late Prof. H. 

 James-Clark are about the only 

 American authorities to whom Kent 

 refers. With this country " leading the 

 world " as to excellence, not to men- 

 tion price, of objectives, and with the 

 infusoria showing themselves almost 

 willing to be sacrificed, as Whipple 

 saj'S of the snakes and Agassiz, is it 

 not time some one took up the sub- 

 ject seriously ? The great obstacle, 

 however, in the way of the satisfactory 

 study of the minutest forms, among 

 which much work remains to be done, 

 is the apparently unnecessary cost of 

 high-power objectives. What country 

 student, who would care to fish among 

 the infusoria, could spare one hundred 

 and fifty dollars for a .^h i"ch ob- 

 jective ? And such a lens is needed 

 for the satisfactory examination of 

 certain important points in structure 

 and life-histor)^ The opticians and 

 their prices make a combination which 

 allows the infusoria to go scot-free. 



The following forms, although they 

 have not been examined witii a v.^ 

 inch objective, are believed to have 

 hitherto escaped observation. 



MONOSIC.A. 



WHth the exception of the sessilely 

 attached Alonosi^^a Stcinii, S. K., the 

 length of the body of the animalcule 



