April 1 8, 1872] 



NATURE 



487 



ably long, as also the antennas. These are not new forma- 

 tions, but simply modifications apparently, by use or dis- 

 use of organs present in the other species. The aberrant 

 myriopod and Stagobius are paralleled by the blind fish, 

 an animal so difficult to classify, and so evidently adapted 

 for its abode in endless darkness. And as an additional 

 proof of the view here taken that these cave animals arc 

 modified from more or less allied species existing outside 

 of the caves, we have the case of the crawfish, whose 

 eyes (like those of the mole), are larger in the young than 

 in the adult, indicating its descent from a species endowed 

 with the faculty of sight, while in the adult the appendages 

 are modified as tactile organs so as to make up for its loss 

 of eyesight, in order that it may still take its prey. 



We thus see that these cave animals are modified in 

 various ways, some being blind, others very hairy, others 

 with long appendages. All are not modified in the same 

 way in homologous organs ; another argument in proof of 

 their descent from ancestors whose habits varied as those 

 of their out-of-door allies do at present. Had they been 

 specially created for subterranean life, we should have 

 expected a much greater uniformity in the organs adapting 

 them to a cave life than we actually find to be the case. 



Another fact of interest in this connection is the circum- 

 stance that these cave species breed slowly, being remark- 

 ably poor in individuals ; they are nearly all, except the 

 wingless grasshoppers, extremely rare. Did they breed as 

 numerously as their allies in the outer world, the whole 

 race would probably starve, as the supply of food even for 

 those which do live is wonderfully limited. 



It is now known that animals inhabiting the abysses of 

 the sea are often highlycoloured : light must penetrate there, 

 for we know that were the darkness total they would be 

 colourless like the cave insects. 



In view of the many important questions which arise in 

 relation to cave animals, and which have been too imper- 

 fectly discussed here, we trust naturalists the world over 

 will be led to explore caves with new zeal, and record their 

 discoveries with minuteness, and the greatest possible 

 regard to exactness. The caves of the West Indian 

 Islands should first of all be carefully explored. Also 

 those of Brazil, those of the East Indies, and of Africa, 

 while fresh and more extended explorations of our own 

 Mammoth Cave should be made, perhaps by a commission 

 acting under Government or State authority, in order that 

 the most ample facilities may be afforded by the parties 

 owning the cave. A. S. Packard 



PROPOSED GRAND AQUARIUM FOR 

 MANCHESTER 



''PHE Manchester Examiner and Times of April 2 gives 

 -l a long account of a Grand Marine Aquarium which 

 it is proposed to build at Manchester, and which shows the 

 interest which is felt in scientific studies in the northern 

 capital. From this article we have made the following 

 extracts, as showing the complete scale upon which every- 

 thing is proposed to be carried out. 



The funds are to be raised by a company started 

 under the superintendence of a number of gentlemen 

 resident in the city who are interested in marine zoology, 

 and desire to promote scientific education in all its 

 branches. The building will contain all the recent im- 

 provements shown to be necessary at the Crystal Palace 

 and Brighton Aquaria, and will be rectangular in shape, 

 1 20 ft. long and 70 ft. wide. This space will be divided 

 into two side galleries, each 120 ft. long and 15 ft. wide, 

 separated from the central saloon by a light screen. 

 Running along one side of each of these galleries will be 

 a series of tanks, about eighty in number, forty in each 

 gallery, varying in capacity from 300 to 3,000 gallons, and 

 the roofs will be so arranged that the light- will pass 

 through the water at an angle of about forty-five degrees 



to the spectators, thus rendering distinctly visible the 

 living inhabitants and plants contained in tie grotto-like 

 tanks. The grand saloon will be also 12c ft. long by 

 40 ft. wide, supporting on light iron columns an open 

 panelled roof. All the windows will be so arianged as to 

 admit only the exact quantity of light requind, as it is 

 found that an excess of light acts upon the higier marine 

 plants and animals in a manner directly conttary to its 

 action upon terrestrial life. It blanches them in a similar 

 manner as ordinary plants are blanched by beinj earthed 

 up. The most brilliant coloured marine plants ire those 

 which live in comparative darkness. The granc saloon 

 will contain two tanks— the largest that have y«t been 

 constructed — one at each end of the room, 30 f. long, 

 left, wide, and 8 ft. deep, capable of containing each 

 15,000 gallons of water, and in which the largest -.peci- 

 mens of fish found in the British seas will find ample loom 

 to display themselves. These tanks will have also a 

 polished plate-glass frontage of great strength, throvgh 

 which the animals can be well seen. 



In order to accommodate the inhabitants of what is 

 called the littoral zone round our coasts, a series of sha^i. 

 low tanks, varying in capacity from 20 to 200 gallons, wil. 

 be erected, in which the animals can be seen either front 

 the surface of the water or through the transparent fronts, \ 

 and by an ingenious contrivance the supply of water will ' 

 be so regulated as to afford in every respect tidal currents. 

 Besides these there will be other tanks at the back of the 

 exhibition tanks for reserve stocks, and in the basement 

 cisterns to hold a reserve supply of 60,000 gallons of sea 

 water. 



Such are the contemplated arrangements for marine, 

 animal, and vegetable life ; but in addition to these the 

 inhabitants of our brooks, ponds, c&c, will not be for- 

 gotten, and a series of table aquaria will be provided : 

 while the larger inhabitants of our rivers and lakes will 

 swim in an ever-flowing river and pond supplied by foun- 

 tains, and placed in the centre of the grand saloon. Such 

 is a brief description of the proposed Manchester Grand 

 Aquarium, which, it is hoped, will both be a success in a 

 scientific, as well as a pecuniary point of view. Mr. B. 

 Hooper, a well-known naturalist, has been engaged as 

 curator of the Aquarium. A site for the Aquarium has 

 been obtained in the vicinity of the Alexandra Park, and 

 it is proposed to open it on Saturdays and Mondays at an 

 admission fee of id. ; on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and 

 Thursdays, at bd. ; and on Friday, which will be a stu- 

 dents' day, at is. 



NOTES 



The following lectures in Natural Sciences will be delivered 

 ill Trinity, St. John's, and .Sidney Sussex Colleges, Cambridge, 

 during Easter Term, 1872 : — "On Light and Heat" (forthenatural 

 sciences tripos), by Mr. Trotter, Trinity College ; Mondays, Wed- 

 nesdays, and Fridays, at 10, commencing Wednesday, April 17. 

 " On Heat " (for the special examination for the ordinary de- 

 gree), by Mr. Trotter, Trinity College ; Tuesdays, Tliursdays, 

 Saturdays, at 11, commencing Tuesday, April 16. " On Chemis- 

 try," by Mr. Main, St. John's College ; Mondays, Wednesdays, 

 Fridays, at 12, in St. John's College Laboratory, commencing 

 Friday, April 19. Instruction in Practical Chemistry will also 

 be given. Attendance on these lectures is recognised by the 

 University for the certificate required by medical students pre- 

 vious to admission for the examination for the degree of M. B. 

 " On Palteontology " (the MoUusca), by Mr. Bonney, St. John's 

 College ; Wednesdays and Fridays, at 9, commencing Friday, 

 April 19. "On Geology" (for the natural sciences tripos. 

 Stratigraphical Geology), by Mr. Bonney, St. John's College; 

 Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at 10, commencing Thurs- 

 day, April 18. There will be excursions every Saturday. " Ele- 

 mentary Geology " (for the special examination) ; Wednesdays 



