PREFACE. 



OUR lamented friend the late Hugh Miller, in 

 his delightful work " The Cruise of the Betsy," 

 surmises that some parties might have thought 

 the geological chapters of the volume more 

 entertaining if all the geology had been left out ; 

 and yet, even with such an authority before us, 

 we flatter ourselves that, in a work written pro- 

 fessedly on the subject of the Marine Aquarium, 

 a sketch of the Natural History of its inmates 

 will be considered at least not misplaced. 



In the following pages we have collected the 

 principal facts connected with the ascertained 

 habits and ceconomy of various races of animals 

 inhabiting our own shores, with a view of direct- 

 ing the attention of the amateur naturalist to 

 subjects most likely to afford materials for useful 

 and instructive observation, and likewise in the 



