ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 
other things, that Sweden has never been invaded 
or conquered ethnically from the outside within 
tne historic period, and is the only example in 
Europe of a nation with a single racial stock, 
language, religion and culture. 
He remarked that it was peculiarly appro- 
priate that the relics of Jenny Lind should be 
displayed in Castle Garden, not merely because 
of the memories of the great singer that cluster 
round the old building, but also because through 
its portals so many of her countrymen have en- 
tered America. Of all the many peoples that 
America has welcomed to her shores, Mr. Grant 
said none have contributed in proportion to their 
numbers so largely as have the Swedes to the 
racial elements and cultural ideals established 
by the earliest settlers in America. 
The singing of Jenny Lind, he said, had also 
refuted the wide-spread belief that the Nordic 
race, while highly endowed with all the attri- 
butes of intellect, was devoid of the soul of 
music. Its rivals conceded its pre-eminence in 
physical strength and beauty and its achieve- 
ments in the manifestations of genius, but always 
claimed that music could flourish only in the 
south and east of Europe. They admitted that 
intellectual capacity and administrative ability 
diminished as one traveled south and east from 
Scotland and Scandinavia. As these failed, the 
emotional expression of song and dance in- 
creased proportionately as the traveler ap- 
proached Hungary and Poland. To all such 
ideas the singing of Jenny Lind and the instru- 
mental achievements of Ole Bull were a sufficient 
answer. 
Director Charles H. Townsend gave an out- 
line of the history of the Aquarium building; 
its construction as a fort, its subsequent use as 
an audience hall, when Jenny Lind and other 
celebrities helped make it historic; its conver- 
sion into an immigrant station; and its final 
transformation into the largest aquarium in the 
world. 
The Swedish Minister to the United States, 
Mr. W. A. F. Ekengren, read a resume of the 
life of his noted countrywoman, whose origin 
in poverty and obscurity terminated in such 
brilliant achievements, world-wide renown and 
admiration. 
To all who love animals there is something 
fascinating about the fact that except for a pet 
cat to which (or should we, like Walter Scott, in 
referring to cats, say “to whom?) the nine- 
year-old Jenny sat singing in a window and 
thereby attracted the attention of a passerby 
who happened to recognize her musical gift, 
she might never have been known. Her educa- 
tion for twenty years at Government expense, 
1338 
the provision that made her development possi- 
ble, gives us food for thought in America to-day. 
Were such opportunities granted our indigent, 
talented children, what flowers we, too, might 
snatch from the fate of “wasting their sweet- 
ness on the desert air” and plant in the per- 
fumed Garden of Fame! When Manuel Garcia, 
her final instructor, uttered the prophetic words, 
“Madamoiselle, no singing teacher can do any- 
thing more for you, genius must do the rest,” 
her career was assured; and King Karl Johan’s 
appointment of her as Court Singer placed her 
beyond the need of charity. She to whom so 
much had been given without cavil or price, 
became in turn the giver and not infrequently 
gave, for good works, the entire and immense 
proceeds of her concerts. For personally, as 
well as professionally, “she belonged not to 
Sweden, but to the world.” 
The meeting was opened and closed with 
singing by the Swedish Singing Society Svea 
under the direction of Mr. Ole Windingstad, 
perhaps the most fitting compliment to which 
was paid by a gentleman who said he had never 
heard our “Star-Spangled Banner” sound really 
musical and beautiful before. 
The concert given in Carnegie Hall was a 
success, socially and financially, and the pro- 
ceeds will be devoted to the same charities fos- 
tered by Jenny Lind on her first concert in New 
York, the program of which was followed at 
Carnegie Hall. Mme. Frieda Hempel, who had 
made a careful study of Jenny Lind costumes, 
appeared in a gown like that worn by her 
famous predecessor and made especially for 
Mme. Hempel in Paris. She used. the Geib 
piano owned by Mrs. Tobin, the same used by 
Jenny Lind in New York in 1850. She sang 
divinely. 
ITEMS OF INTEREST 
Tue WuiterisH iN Captiviry—One of the 
large fresh-water tanks in the Aquarium con- 
tains a hundred or more Lake Erie whitefish 
which were hatched at the Aquarium in January, 
1913, and are now nearly eight years old. Be- 
ing the only whitefishes in the country of a 
known age, they have attracted the attention of 
certain biologists engaged in determining the 
ages of fishes through a study of their scales. 
It has been known for several years that 
growth and age can be ascertained by examina- 
tion of the scales. Fishes in northern latitudes 
grow faster during the warmer months, while in 
winter growth is retarded. The periods of rapid 
and slow growth leave their impress on the 
scales. 
