1692 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



destroys small crustaceans, worms, and micro- 

 scopic animals. Since his time it has been ob- 

 served that this bladderwort. when confined in 

 an aquarium with the newly-hatched young of 

 perch, roach, carp, or small aquarium fishes, 

 will trap them and therefore become, upon oc- 

 casion, a piscivorous plant. Minute objects are 

 enabled to enter the bladders of the plant, but 

 not to leave them. After a few hours or days 

 the victims suffocate or starve, and the products 

 of decay are absorbed into the cells of the blad- 

 ders and thence into the tissues of the plant 

 itself. 



Fishes have ever been prolific animals ; were, 

 indeed, one of the common symbols of fecundi- 

 ty in the ancient worship of Nature. The group, 

 therefore, despite its multitudinous enemies, has 

 continued throughout the centuries to hold a 

 prominent place in the world of life; and for 

 all we can tell may be existing and reproducing 

 its kind many ages after even its most cunning 

 enemy, man. shall have become extinct. 



WAR WORK AT THE AQUARIUM. 



By C. H. ToWNSEND. 



Navy Recruiting Station. — At the invitation 

 of the Director, the Navy Department opened 

 a recruiting station at the Aquarium in April. 

 This station proved to be well located, as the 

 Navy yeoman in charge often had as many is 

 12.") applicants a week. Preliminary examina- 

 tions as to age. eyesight, hearing, etc., were 

 made at the Aquarium, where such as were clear- 

 ly unfit could be rejected Those passed by the 

 officer in charge were sent elsewhere for medi- 

 cal examination. 



The Aquarium had its customary 5,000 vis- 

 itors a day during the spring and summer, but 

 the conspicuous Navy signs at the entrance 

 probably caught the eye of many a stroller in 

 Battery Park and conveyed the idea of enlist- 

 ment. 



Lantern Slides for Army Camps. — At the re- 

 quest of the Young Men's Christian Association, 

 the Aquarium prepared sets of colored lantern 

 slides for use in Army camps. These were illus- 

 trative of the forms of aquatic life exhibited at 

 the Aquarium and were accompanied by written 

 lectures, making the pictures available in the 

 hands of any Y. M. C. A. camp worker, where 

 an illustrated lecture was desirable. 



The Aquarium at the Food Show. — At there- 

 quest of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries, the Aqua- 

 rium contributed several tanks of living fishes 

 in connection with the Government exhibit at 

 the Food Show held in the Grand Central Pal- 

 ace in June. The tanks were installed and the 



water connections made by employees of the 

 Aquarium, who also cared for the exhibit. The 

 fishes were mostly those edible but less popular 

 species, that the Bureau is now exploiting as 

 food fishes that should be utilized to a greater 

 extent, such as bowfin. burbot, yellow perch and 

 carp. 



The bowfin and burbot, both of which are 

 abundant in the Great Lakes, were formerly but 

 little used, but are now being shipped east in 

 considerable quantities. The consumption of 

 carp, abundant in all our waters, is greatly on 

 the increase. 



The Bureau distributed circulars relative to 

 fishes but little utilized, setting forth the best 

 methods of capture, preserving, shipping and 

 cooking. 



The Commissioner writes that the living 

 fishes "proved a most attractive feature and 

 added immeasurably to the success of the fish- 

 eries exhibit.'' 



Testing of Life Preservers. — A committee, of 

 which the Director of the Aquarium is a mem- 

 ber, has, during a period extending over several 

 months, tested life preservers of the various pat- 

 terns used on shipboard. 



It will be remembered that the first vessel 

 reaching the scene of the Titanic disaster found 

 but one body afloat, while a few days later, bod- 

 ies with life preservers properly attached, re- 

 appeared at the surface. 



The committee undertook the examination of 

 life preservers under such conditions as would 

 thoroughly test their buoyancy and balance. 

 The tests were made at night in the tanks of 

 pure sea water at the Aquarium, after the build- 

 ing had been closed to visitors. The flotation 

 of each pattern was first observed while being 

 used by a fully dressed man of average size. 

 Sufficient weight was then attached to its lower 

 edges to sink it to a water line previously marked 

 when it was in actual use. It was then left 

 afloat for twenty-four hours or longer. Steam- 

 ship men and naval officers were present. The 

 work will be continued as other forms of life 

 preservers are secured. The tests have been re- 

 ported upon so far only to the proper depart- 

 ment at Washington — and the committee has no 

 report to be made public. 



Fourth Liberty Loan. — As the Bulletin goes 

 to press, the Aquarium Station of the Fourth 

 Liberty Loan is in active operation. A naval 

 band is playing in the building. Two men ar- 

 rayed in the full-length life-saving suit of the 

 type used for wounded men on homeward-bound 

 transport ships, are giving public demonstra- 

 tions of its effectiveness in the large central 



