TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT 123 



Owing to a mistake, a valve was opened on September 3, 

 which resulted in flooding with salt water a tank containing 

 eight large muskallunge. Before the cause of the trouble was 

 discovered, six very large muskallunge had been killed. The 

 Aquarium has been remarkably free from accidents of this kind, 

 no such losses having occurred for several years. This accident 

 is mentioned to show that the possibilities for trouble are always 

 present where four separate water systems are operated in a 

 single building. Fishes can endure hunger and some forms of 

 neglect, but vitiation of the water supply is almost immediately 

 fatal. A similar accident occurred in August, when several 

 thousand eggs of black-spotted trout were lost through the turn- 

 ing on of water from the City pipes at a temperature too high 

 for trout or their eggs. 



The sea water heater which had been in use since 1911 was 

 discovered to be in bad condition and was replaced wath a new 

 one in December at a cost of $170. During the installation of 

 this heater in cold weather, the temperature of the stored sea 

 water fell to 64° Fahr., causing the loss of thirty tropical fishes. 

 The type of heater used for this purpose is a galvanized kitchen 

 Waaler heater, sixty inches long and sixteen inches in diameter, 

 completely covered with chemical sheet lead one-eighth inch 

 thick. It is fastened in the bottom of a large wooden distrib- 

 uting tank and heated with steam. This home-made heater was 

 finally adopted after many years' experience with heating coils 

 of galvanized pipe, bronze and chemical lead, all of which failed 

 to meet requirements. The galvanized pipe coil was rejected 

 because of rapid corrosion, which threatened the color of the 

 stored sea water. The bronze heater failed to resist the de- 

 structive effect of sea water, and the chemical lead coil, other- 

 w^ise satisfactory, did not long resist the action of the steam. 



Wo7'k of the well-boat Seahorse. — The Aquarium collecting 

 boat was put in commission on May 28 and made weekly trips to 

 Sandy Hook and Raritan bays until October 22, when it was 

 hauled out for the winter. This sail- and power-boat, thirty- 

 five feet in length, again proved its great usefulness to the 

 Aquarium. Although the fishing trips were fewer and of shorter 

 duration than in 1920, fifty-three species of local sea fishes rep- 

 resented by 2264 specimens were placed on exhibition. Quanti- 

 ties of invertebrates were also collected, both for exhibition and 

 as fish food. Most of the trips were of less than forty-eight 



