290 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Acclimatisation of Animals. 



ceivable number of rows of allied or cognate species, having no in- 

 terest whatever except for the advanced zoological student. 



I will only add that I am perfectly satisfied, from observation 

 and experience, and that I believe the opinion is rapidly gaining 

 ground, that the scientific student would find a collection solely 

 devoted to the object of study, and preserved in boxes and drawers, 

 far more useful and available for scientific purposes than the stuifed 

 specimens as at present airanged in galleries of immense extent, and 

 crowded with curious and bewildered spectators ; while, on the other 

 hand, the general public would infinitely better understand, and 

 consequently more justly appreciate, a well-chosen and well-exhibited 

 selection of a limited number of specimens, carefully arranged to 

 exhibit special objects of general interest, and to aiford a complete 

 series for elementary instruction, than miles of glass cases containing 

 thousands upon thousands of specimens, all exhibited in a uniform 

 manner, and placed like soldiers at a review. 



I now turn to a very different subject — one which has always oc- 

 cupied a considerable share of my attention, and on which a few 

 observations may not be out of place on this occasion — viz. the 

 acclimatization of animals. This subject, which has been a favourite 

 one with the more thoughtful student, appears all at once to have 

 become popular ; and several associations have been formed for the 

 especial purpose of its promotion, not only in this country, but also 

 on the Continent and in the Australian colonies. 



I may observe that the acclimatization of animals, and especially 

 the introduction and cultivation of fish, was among the peculiar ob- 

 jects put forward by the Zoological Society at the time of its founda- 

 tion, nearly forty years ago — although, as we all know, it has been 

 able to do very little for its promotion. 



It would appear, from observations that are occasionally to be 

 met with in the public papers and in other journals, to be a pre- 

 valent opinion among the patrons of some of these associations that 

 scientific zoologists are opposed to their views, or, at least, lukewarm 

 on the subject. But I am convinced that they are totally mistaken in 

 such a notion, and that it can only have originated in the expression 

 of a belief, founded on experience, that some of the schemes of the 

 would-be acclimatizers are incapable of being carried out, and would 

 never have been suggested if their promoters had been better ac- 

 quainted with the habits and manners of the animals on which the 

 experiments are proposed to be made. 



The term acclimatization has been employed in several widely 

 different senses: — 1st, as indicating the domestication of animals 

 now only known in the wild state ; 2ndly, to express the intro- 

 duction of the domesticated animals of one country into another; 

 3rdly, the cultivation of fishes, &c., by the restocking of rivers, the 

 colonization of ponds, or the renovating of worn-out oyster- or pearl- 

 fisheries by fresh supplies. 



Commencing with the first of these objects, which is by many 

 regarded as the most important, I would observe that some animals 



