Oct. 23, 1873 
Cesaris.” It was also the first volume of a series of 
ephemerides which have been since continued without 
interruption. 
In 1799 the publication of the Portuguese ephemerides 
commenced —‘ Ephemerides astronomicas calculadas 
para o meridiano Observatorio nacional de universidade 
de Coimbra, para uso do mesmo Observatorio, e para o 
_ da navegacao Portugueza.” 
Lastly, in 1756, appeared the ephemerides of Vienna :— 
“ Epbemerides astronomice anni 1757, ad meridianum 
Vindobonensem jussu Augustorum calculis a Maximiliano 
Hell. Czesario regio astronomo et Mechanicus experi- 
mentalis professore publico et ordinis,” which were con- 
tinued by Triesmecker. The Ephemerides of Vienna were 
constructed upon the model of the Abbé de la Caille, 
much more than upon that of the Conmaissance des 
Temps. Moreover, at this period, the Ephemerides of La 
Caille were almost exclusively employed by French 
astronomers. 
(To be continued.) 
c SS ES eee 
THE BRIGHTON AQUARIUM 
7s accordance with an intention entertained previous to 
resigning the tenure of my office as Curator to the 
_ Brighton Aquarium, I propose to give a brief outline 
of the plan of construction and general system of arrange- 
ments obtaining in that institution. 
The Brighton Aquarium, while emulated by several 
buildings of a similar nature, in different parts of the 
kingdom and on the Continent, still holds its own in being 
on a scale of magnitude hitherto unsurpassed, more than 
one of its tanks, in illustration of this, being of sufficient 
size to accommodate the evolutions of porpoises and other 
small Cetaceze. The architect and originator of the un- 
dertaking, Mr. Edward Birch, well known as the engineer 
of the new pier at Hastings, entertained the idea of con- 
structing this Aquarium as long ago as the year 1866 when 
visiting the one on a small scale then existing at 
Boulogne ; Brighton was selected as a site on account of 
its proximity to the sea-coast and its great popularity as a 
place of resort. The works were commenced in the 
autumn of the year 1869, but owing to various interrup- 
tions the building was not formally thrown open to the 
public until August 1872, the ceremony taking place dur- 
ing the week in which the members of the British Asso- 
ciation honoured Brighton as their place of meeting. 
The area occupied by the Brighton Aquarium averages 
715 feet in length by 100 feet in width, running east and 
west along the shore line between the sea and the Marine 
Parade ; the principal entrance is at the west end facing 
the eastern angle of the Royal Albion Hotel. The build- 
ing internally is divided into two corridors separated from 
one another by a fernery and_considerable interspace. 
The approach to the first or Western corridor is gained 
through a spacious entrance-hall supplied with reading- 
tables, and containing between the pillars which support 
the roof portable receptacles of sea-water for the display 
of small marine specimens that would be lost to sight in 
the larger tanks. 
The tanks for ordinary exhibition commence with No. 
1 on the left side of the western corridor, and, as shown 
in the ground-plan, follow in consecutive order round the 
two corridors, the last, No. 41, immediately facing No. I. 
The smallest of these tanks measures 11 feet long by 10 
feet broad, and is capable of holding some 4,000 gallons 
of water, while the largest, No. 6, in the western corridor, 
and the subject of the accompanying engraving, presents 
a total frontage, including the two angles of 130 feet, with 
a greatest width of 30 feet, and contains no less than 
110,000 gallons. Every gradation of size occurs between 
these two extremes, the depth of the water in all ranging 
from 5 to 6 feet. Supplementary to the foregoing, a series 
of half-a-dozen shallow octagonal table-tanks occupies a 
NATURE 
portion of the interspace between the two corridors, 
these being especially adapted for the exhibition of ani- 
mals such as starfish, anemones, and others seen to best 
advantage when viewed perpendicularly through the 
water, Flanking one side of this same interspace are 
several ponds fenced off for the reception of seals and 
other amphibious mammalia and larger Reptilia, while at 
its further or eastern extremity artistic rock-work runs 
to a height of 40 feet, thickly planted with choice ferns 
and suitable exotic plants, and broken in its course by a 
picturesque waterfall and stream. Tanks 12 to 17 in the 
eastern corridor, in addition to the stream and basin be- 
neath the waterfall, are set apart for the exclusive exhibi- 
tion of fresh-water fish, the remaining tanks being devoted 
to marine species. 
fresh and sea-water tanks collectively amounts to 500,000 
gallons, and in addition to this several smaller store tanks 
in the Naturalists’ Room, adjoining the eastern corridor, 
afford accommodation for reserve stock,‘ or for new 
arrivals before their display to public view. 
The bulk of water thus utilised in the 
The style of architecture dominant throughout the 
building is Italian and highly ornate, the arched roof of 
the corridors being groined and constructed of variegated 
bricks, supported on columns of Bath stone, polished ser- 
pentine marble, and Aberdeen granite ; the capital of each 
column is elaborately carved in some appropriate marine 
device, while the floor in correspondence is laid out in 
acrostic tiles. 
the tanks are composed each of three sheets of plate glass, 
each plate having a thickness of one inch, and measuring 
six feet 
another and supported centrally by upright massive iron 
mullions ; in the smallest tanks the front is represented 
by but one of these divisions, while that of the largest, 
No. 6, consists of as many as eleven, Among other con- 
spicuous structural features of the aquarium demanding 
notice are the huge masses of rock entering into the com- 
position of the tanks and fernery. 
composed of porous tufa brought from Derbyshire, while 
the remaining and greater portion presents the appear- 
ance at first sight of old Red Sandstone of the Devonian 
epoch, This latter, however, is entirely artificial, being 
built up of 
cement and coloured sand, though so true to Nature have 
the boulders been 
ranged, that more than one eminent geologist has been 
deceived by their aspect, and it is difficult in looking into 
The divisions constituting the fronts of 
high by three feet wide, separated from one 
Part of these are 
smaller nondescript fragments, faced with 
fashioned and stratigraphically ar- 
the larger tanks to get rid of the impression that some of 
the miniature picturesque coves characteristic of the 
Devonshire coast have been transported bodily to 
Brighton. 
The system adopted at the Brighton Aquarium for 
continually renewing the supply of oxygen necessary for 
the well-being of the animals agrees with that followed at 
Berlin, streams of compressed air being constantly forced 
into the tanks through vulcanite tubes carried to the 
bottom of the water, and each tank being fitted with a 
greater or less number of these tubes according to its 
size. Following the same principle there is no true circu- 
lation, each tank being distinctly independent and the 
same water remaining in it perpetually unless required to 
be changed on account of turbidity, an accident such as 
the cracking of a front glass, or for altering the arrange- 
ment of the inhabitants. In such cases the tanks are 
refilled from four large reservoirs situated beneath the 
corridors, holding in aggregate a quantity approximating 
but not exceeding that contained in the tanks above, 
and into which the water is first pumped by a six-horse 
power centrifugal engine direct from the sea, and thence 
conveyed by the same force to the tanks, through a 
main extending round the building. 
The system above described, while practical in aquaria 
at the seaside, where the supply of water is unlimited, 
does not answer inland, as exemplified in the decadence, 
