14 Life Beneath the Waves. 



ceeds to what may be termed the Aqua- 

 rium proper, which consists, in the first 

 place, of a corridor two hundred and twenty 

 feet long and twenty-three wide, divided in 

 the centre by handsome columns, constructed 

 alternately of Bath stone, serpentine, and 

 polished granite. On the caps of the 

 columns are carved designs of shells, fish, 

 sea-birds, and other marine subjects; while 

 the corresponding corbels from the piers are 

 enriched in a similar manner. From these 

 columns and corbels spring the ribs of 

 a handsome groined roof, the ribs being in 

 Bath stone, and the filling in, between the 

 groins, of brickwork ; black and red, and red 

 and buff alternately. On each side of the 

 corridor are ranged the tanks for the exhibi- 

 tion of the specimens, varying in size from 

 eleven feet six inches by twenty feet, to one 

 hundred and three feet by forty. By re- 



