64 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVII, No. 417 



also those which live in or upon its banks; and as the space 

 here seems to be ample, — the ground covers about fourteen 

 acres,' — expense would be the only limit; so that, should the 

 returns warrant, we may eventually include not a few sub- 

 tropical or even tropical animals. The stream will be so 

 turned as to run in winding' channels through pond-like en- 

 largements, much increasing the opportunity for the out- 

 door display of water-fowl and beast. Here will find their 

 place fish-hatcheries where the processes of growth may be 

 observed, and insectaries in which the changes which many 

 creatures undergo in passing from an aquatic to an aerial 

 life will be readily seen. So other significant transforma- 

 tions may be observed in displays which will show how readily 

 certain brine shrimps may change their actual structure to 

 become in a few generations fresh-water shrimps, and illus- 

 trate the rarely considered fact that all fresh-water organ- 

 isms are modified descendants either of marine, or, by retro- 

 grade movement, of terrestrial, animals or plants. The 

 broad relations of our three realms of life will thus be in- 

 dicated. Here, too, will be fine opportunities for the growth 

 of water-plants, both of the temperate zones and of the 

 tropics; for, with proper care, even the wonderful Victoria 

 regia can be grown in full beauty. 



Many of these things will be seen, of course, under cover, 

 where, in the inclement season, all creatures which live 

 beneath the surface of the water must be housed. Houses 

 must also be fitted for the protection as well as display of all 

 foreign creatures, so that in winter and summer alike this 

 section of the garden shall have its full share of attractions. 



But the place of highest interest and usefulness is that 

 which we wish first to undertake, the Marine Aquarium at 

 City Point, — greatest, because of the larger variety of form, 

 of structure, and of color among marine animals ; because, 

 too, some of the most beautiful and most surprising of these 

 creatures are inhabitants of our own seas, but are almost 

 wholly unknown except to naturalists. When the display 

 of the animals of our own waters in all their vivid coloring, 

 lovely or grotesque form, and varied action, is ready, thou- 

 sands will marvel at the revelation of a new world of their 

 •own of which they have not dreamed. 



The ground here allotted, covering about eight acres, will 

 be ready for occupation the coming summer, and will have 

 as its chief attraction a building for aquaria, so arranged 

 that almost the only light which enters the halls will be that 

 which passes through the aquaria; and we may thus watch 

 the creatures much as if we were ourselves beneath the sea, 

 without those features which might make such a position 

 disagreeable. The first room to visit, however, would be 

 one devoted to an exposition of the relations of animals and 

 plants to their surroundings, such as would give a clew to 

 much we should afterwards see which would be otherwise 

 obscure. Not only would the differences between the great 

 groups of animals and plants be made clear by proper prep- 

 arations and other exhibits, but a distinct effort would here 

 be made to show what definite relations the structure of 

 animals bears to their immediate surroundings and to their 

 habits, and how animals are provided with the means to do 

 the precise work they have to perform, for work is a con- 

 dition of being. The changes that have taken place in the 

 structure of certain descendants cdf air-breathing land ani- 

 mals, such as whales, in order to fit them for marine life, 

 would be illustrated, and other fundamental laws of organic 

 modification would be made clear by aids known to the ex- 

 pert. A similar introduction would be oifered in the other 

 sections of the gardens, modified to suit the immediate 



situation and multiply the illustration, so that the full value 

 of each exhibit might be attainable on the spot. 



In the general exhibition-rooms the individual aquaria are 

 like the cases in a museum : their position or their contents 

 may be altered or shifted at will to illustrate this or that 

 feature. But it is probable that geographical data will 

 always have a large infiuence on the jux;taposition and dis- 

 tribution of the inhabitants, of the tanks, first, because it is 

 possible and desirable to have many sorts — widely differing 

 softs of animals which do not come into collision — in a 

 single vessel, but also because of the importance which rel- 

 ative depth in the ocean, as well as latitude and longitude, 

 has upon marine life. Our own marine fauna and flora 

 would be displayed by itself in special series of aquaria; 

 while, as every desirable range of temperature would be 

 possible in the different tanks by simply heating or chilling 

 the inflow, or, by convection, the water in the vessel itself, 

 tropical and arctic animals, once obtained, could be kept 

 throughout the year. 



Outside in the grounds large and small salt-water basins 

 are planned, within which it is hoped to confine and e.xhibit 

 some of our smaller cetaceans, porpoises, dolphins, etc., as 

 also seals ; while upon their shores and islands water-fowl 

 and other creatures would disport themselves. It may even 

 be practicable by some device to create, in a basin of smaller 

 extent, an artificial tide, with high water at noon and at 

 midnight by the clock, so that the intertidal animals may 

 find their place, the nimble " peep " scamper in flocks along 

 the beach (their wings clipped, of course), while the margins 

 shall represent at intervals a rocky and a sandy shore. This 

 bit of marine life transplanted to our homes need not end 

 here: we should reproduce also the vegetation of the im- 

 mediate coast ; even the beach-grass of New England may 

 find its corner and give its lesson, offering shelter and con- 

 genial home to the maritime locust, whose complete protec- 

 tion through its colorational resemblance to the sand it dwells 

 upon would give to every one who sought it out a practical 

 lesson in one of Nature's most hidden laws, — the impor- 

 tance of disguise and mimicry. 



The finest existing zoological garden is controlled by a 

 strictly scientific association, — the Zoological Society of 

 London. It remains to be seen whether our Society of Nat- 

 ural History cannot accomplish in America a similar work. 

 We may not be able to rival our transatlantic brethren in the 

 extent of our menagerie, — here we are handicapped by the 

 lack of colonial possessions, — but the wide extent of our 

 country gives us altogether the advantage in a display of 

 native animals ; and, if we rightly seize the opportunity be- 

 fore us, we may have a series of gardens second in edu- 

 cational value and in public interest to none in the world. 



MEN WHO ARE WORKING WITH KOCH. 



Professor Kael Feaenkel, whose highly important experi- 

 ments with a view to conferring immunity against diphtheria 

 are now one of the chief topics of discussion in the medical 

 world, is a pupil of Robert Koch. According to the Lancet, be 

 passed his final examination as a physician in 1885, was appointed 

 assistant in the Hygienic Institute, Berlin, on its establishment, 

 and soon became Koch's first assistant there. In 1837 he estab- 

 lished himself as private lecturer in Berlin University. About 

 a year ago lie was appointed professor of hygiene at Kbnigs- 

 berg. He became generally known in medical circles by the pub- 

 lication of his "Elements of Bacteriology," in 1886. This book 

 has appeared in a third edition, and has the reputation of being 

 the best of its kind. The most important of Fraenkel's special in- 



