3948 The Zoologist — April, 1874. 



out of the rock, these tanks cover a space of a thousand square yards 

 or raore, sheltered and protected from the sea by massive walls. 

 At high vrater these basins are many feet in depth, and the fish are 

 discerned with difficulty, nor could I see any in one of the tanks 

 till an attendant directed my attention to some light and glistening 

 spots on dark objects at the bottom ; these he said were turbots, 

 but there must have been brills amongst them. On food being 

 thrown in, the whole tank was in commotion, the fish darling here 

 and there in quest of it, some coming to the surface almost per- 

 pendicularly, and with wonderful speed and agility ; and their 

 manner of swimming is most graceful, too — propelled, as well as 

 guided, by the powerful and pliant tail. 



The tank containing crayfish is so well stocked and closely 

 packed that they completely cover the surfiice, and I was informed 

 that they consume daily tvvo hundredweight of dogfish and other 

 common species. I saw them fed, and it was amusing to observe 

 these awkward long-legged cr-eatures, not unlike huge spiders, 

 crawling on and over each other's backs in search of the dainty 

 morsels, which were greedily seized and devoured. 



In an adjoining tank lobsters were to be seen in great numbers, 

 some crawling about the steps leading down to the water, having 

 been left high and dry by the receding tide, but they appeared none 

 the worse for it. Some of the lobsters were of great size, others 

 differing in colour from the common kind, being of a bright and 

 intense blue. Of the common lobster [Cancer gammarits) Cuvier 

 remarks, " C'est un des Crustaces de mer que Ton sert le plus sur 

 nos tables." In the ' Dictionnaire Classique,' it is said, " Sa taille 

 est souvent gigantesque, on le trouve communement dans la Medi- 

 terranee et dans I'ocean." There was also the Palinurus, or spring 

 lobster, somewhat resembling the crayfish, to which it is seemingly 

 allied, and is here most abundant, well nigh as much so as the 

 common lobster. 



In another tank a shark was seen, living peaceably and amicably 

 with numerous other fish, with which it had fraternized; but, 

 being well fed, a satiated appetite may perhaps account for its 

 forbearance. 



My acquaintance with fish and Crustacea being slight, I shall not 

 venture into other tanks, as I might get out of my depth, but may 

 say a word or two about the aquarium adjoining, where fish and 

 Crustacea are bred, and where they may be traced from the spawn 



