56 



aquatic JLitt 



The inference to be taken is that Dr. 

 Van Deusen is expected to arrange a 

 little party for next summer. 



A public aquarium under the auspices 

 of The Madison Zoological and Aqua- 

 rium Society has been established in the 

 gardens in Henry Vilas Park, Madison, 

 Wisconsin. The collection contains both 

 native species and the hardy and inter- 

 esting tropical fishes. This is the only 

 permanent exhibition in the State, in fact, 

 in all the Middle States, excepting De- 

 troit. There seems to be no real reason 

 why every town boasting of a zoological 

 garden should not have a collection of 

 fishes. A separate building would not be 

 necessary. The tanks could be disposed 

 through the various buildings, the tem- 

 perature factor being overcome by plac- 

 ing the tanks of tropical fishes in the 

 houses given to animals of that zone. 



The South Australian Aquarium So- 

 ciety was organized with twenty founda- 

 tion members, a remarkably good "start." 

 The program for the initial year included 

 sundry papers, collecting excursions and 

 visits to the private aquaria of members. 



A number of years ago an aquarium 

 society flourished in Sydney, Australia. 

 Later, finding its work to somewhat coin- 

 cide with that of The Naturalists' Club 

 of New South Wales, it merged with it. 

 This proved mutually valuable and 

 brought together specialists in the various 

 departments of nature-study. 



A recent announcement of a meeting 

 of the Chicago Aquarium Society starts 

 off with : 



Little Guppies have little fleas 

 Upon their backs to bite them, 



And these, again, have smaller fleas, 

 and so ad infinitum. 



And this without apology to Dean 

 Swift, or whoever started the "ad infini- 

 tum business" a few hundred years ago. 

 The parody was not without appropri- 

 ateness as Dr. George R. La Rue, of the 



University of Michigan, who has made a 

 study of the parasites of fishes, was pres- 

 ent to tell of his researches. And there 

 also was Dr. H. B. Ward, of the Univer- 

 sity of Illinois, and so ad infinitum! 



The Chicago Aquarium Society leaves 

 no stone unturned to do its bit to main- 

 tain the prestige of the city slogan — - 

 / anil. President Orsinger and his fel- 

 lows will do it if it can be done. Some- 

 thing going on all the time, with Keedy 

 as punchologist thrown in for good meas- 

 ure, which makes us wonder what sort 

 of a substitute Keedy will pull off six 

 months hence. 



The second annual exhibition of the 

 Aquatic Association of Maryland was 

 held in the Hotel Sherwood, Baltimore, 

 on December 3d. The affair was a com- 

 bined social gathering and competition. 

 The exhibition room and tanks had been 

 tastefully arranged by the president of 

 the association, Mr. Ernest Gill, and Mr. 

 J. Shelton Hill. Mr. and Mrs. Gill 

 received the guests. 



After calling the meeting to order 

 President Gill explained the purpose of 

 the exhibition, and appointed Messrs. 

 George A. Wieman, W. J. Smith and J. 

 Shelton Hill as judges. This being the 

 first competition for fish raised by mem- 

 bers, it was announced that no attempt 

 would be made to segregate the breeds, 

 but that the awards would be made to 

 the best specimens regardless of type. 

 After a careful examination the three 

 winners were determined and placed in 

 a tank together. 



The first prize, a cup offered by the 

 president, was awarded to Mr. H. A. 

 Altpeter for a fine calico telescope ; sec- 

 ond, to Mr. W. H. Cassell on a Jap 

 fringe-tail ; third, a calico telescope en- 

 tered by Mr. Louis Hens. 



It was estimated that at least 150 vis- 

 itors were present during the meeting. 



