ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



KIKE ROOM. NEW YORK AQUARIUM 

 Flooded at liigh tide. 



Pholouraphed hu L. L. Mou-br< 



Operate your mechanical department all these years 

 with such handicaps. 



You can count on me for such assistance as I 

 can render in your endeavors to convince the City 

 authorities of the urgent need of a change in the 

 location of the machinery department as described 

 in your recent report. 



Very truly' yours, 

 (Signed) Jaros Kk.ms. Architect. 



The wretched and unsanitary conditions that 

 exist in the Aquarium building are of long stand- 

 ing. The Director is on record as having pro- 

 tested many times during the past fifteen years 

 against the official neglect that has ignored 

 conditions which would not be tolerated in any 

 other City building. 



The Aquarium had 1,59.5,118 visitors during 

 the past year, and this attendance was lower 

 than usual. It would seem that a museum pat- 

 ronized by the public to such an extent should 

 be put on a safe and sanitary basis without far- 

 ther argument. 



THE CLIMBING MUSSEL 



(Mytilus edulis) 



By Ida M. Mellen 



Illustration from a pen drawing bv author 



THE sea mussel is not a home-body like 

 the oyster, which settles in one spot for 

 life; nor is it a great traveler. It does 

 not use its foot to plow through the bottom mud, 

 as do the fresh-water mussels, as it is a less ac- 

 tive species. Rather, it prefers to gather with 

 its friends upon the ledges or wharves at low 

 water mark, where, holding fast to its moorings, 

 it may feel the rocking of the sea and benefit by 

 the rise and fall of the tides. If satisfied with 

 the spot selected, the sea mussel remains an in- 

 definite tenant. If food or other conditions turn 

 out unfavorably, it moves on. 



The sea mussel has not .sufficient strength in 

 its small foot to support it against the sweep of 

 the waves, nor even to permit it to walk without 

 assistance. But its foot is quite equal to both 



