PUBLIC AQUARIUMS 



By Ward T. Bower 

 Bureau of Fisheries, Washingiton, D. C. 



For purposes of education and recreation too much cannot be 

 said in behalf of pubHc aquariums. As proof of this, one has but to 

 observe the eager and interested faces of the multitudes of visitors 

 at our all-too-few institutions of this character. Irrespective of age 

 or station in life, whether savant on the one extreme or school 

 child on the other, there exists a common and spell-binding interest 

 in marine creatures properly displayed. Here lie unbounded educa- 

 tional opportunities for the student of biology as well as for the most 

 casual pleasure-seeker. Unfortunately but few municipalities have 

 thus far recognized the great possibilities in this field. The public 

 aquariums at New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Miami, Boston, and 

 Washington should point the way to many other cities. The next 

 large city to be favored in this regard is San Francisco, where 

 through private benefaction funds have already been provided and 

 plans about completed for the erection of a splendid public aquarium 

 to be located in Golden Gate Park and operated at municipal expense 

 under the immediate supervision of the California Academy of 

 Sciences. 



Public aquariums are of comparatively modern origin. It was in 

 the late sixties that an Englishman aroused an interest which soon 

 caused various European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris, 

 Hamburg, Hanover, Amsterdam, Brighton, and a little later Naples, 

 to vie one with another in an effort to establish public aquariums. 

 There were others, too, supported both by public and private enter- 

 prise. Today probably the most famous and finest of all aquariums 

 is that at Naples. 



In the earlier days of public aquariums it was deemed most appro- 

 priate to construct them so as to produce marine-like impressions 

 upon the visitor. Thus, cavernous and subterranean entrances and 

 grotto-like galleries and passageways were much in vogue. In some 

 instances this semblance was worked out very well, but ordinarily it 

 was at the sacrifice of features which we recognize as of far greater 

 importance, including lighting, ventilation, temperature regulation, 

 the comfort of the public, and other considerations affecting both 

 the economical and advantageous display of fishes and other marine 

 forms. These modern features are of special importance and can be 



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