ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1555 



hoped that all of the glass-fronted tanks on the 

 ground floor will be large enough to hold really 

 large fishes. The number of fishes that can be 

 kept in such tanks is greater, as there is more 

 swimming space. 



Young Orange Filefish. — The young of this 

 sjoecies are quite different in appearance from 

 the adults, having oblique, broad black bands, 

 while the adults lack the bands and are con- 

 spicuously yellow. The photograph of the 

 young filefishes presented herewith may be com- 

 pared with one published in this Bulletin in 

 November, 1912, showing the large adult fishes. 

 - This species usually maintains an oblique po- 

 sition both when quietly poised in mid-tank and 

 when moving in its slow fashion. It is com- 

 mon all along our coast in summer and autumn 

 and is often found in large schools. 



Refrigerating Plant. — One of the most im- 

 portant improvements in the mechanical depart- 

 ment of the Aquarium has been the recent in- 

 stallation of the refrigerating engine and con- 

 denser in new quarters. 



To comply with Fire Department require- 

 ments for the separate enclosing of such ma- 

 chinery, it became necessary to remove the re- 

 frigerating plant to a position where the acci- 

 dental liberation of ammonia gas would not be 

 dangerous to visitors. This was accomplished 

 by the construction of a room outside of the en- 

 gine room, on top of the broad outer wall of 

 the building. Advantage was taken of the 

 change, to abandon the bulky tank and coil sys- 

 tem and install a condenser of the more modern 

 double-tube pattern, which requires less space 

 and gives better results. 



The accompanying photograph shows the ex- 

 terior of the new structure. The area made va- 

 cant by the removal of this machinery permit- 

 ted the enlargement of two exhibition tanks and 

 the consequent increase of space to be devoted 

 to exhibits. 



Fishes From Florida. — On September 12 Mr. 

 Mowbray of the Aquarium staff, went to Key 

 West for the purpose of making a cooperative 

 collection of fishes for the New York and De- 

 troit aquariums. 



The collection was made under very trying 

 conditions, owing to stormy weather. About 

 600 specimens were collected and were loaded 

 on the steamer in a gale of wind and rain. The 

 ship was delayed several hours, owing to the. 

 weather, but sailed that night. The gale reached 

 its height about midnight and the fishes in the 

 sliipping tanks were subjected to uncomm^inly 



NEW QUARTERS FOR THE REFRIGERATING PLANT 



rough treatment. Some 160 succumbed or were 

 too badly bruised to be of any exhibition value 

 and were thrown overboard ; but 447 specimens 

 finally landed at the Aquarium. 



Fur Seal Herd in 1917. — The preliminary 

 census of the Alaska fur seal herd for 1917, as 

 reported from the Pribilof Islands on August 

 16, totaled 463,374 seals of all classes. 



A steady increase in the herd has been re- 

 corded each year since ocean sealing was dis- 

 continued by international agreement in De- 

 cember, 1911. The catch made at sea that 

 year was 12,700, mostly breeding females, and 

 the herd on the islands was numbered at 

 123,600, althougli it was subsequently an- 

 nounced that this figure was too low. In 1912, 

 with no losses of breeding females from ocean 

 sealing, and no losses of pup seals by starva- 

 tion as a result of being left motherless, the 

 herd numbered 215,738; the census having 

 been made with greater care than ever before. 



