256 VALUE OF A GOOD NAME. 



ance to those ■who intend to keep marine animals and 

 plants, as my experience and inquiries enable me to 

 furnish : and therefore I shall arrange the details in 

 such an order as shall be most easy of reference. 



THE NAME. 



A neat, easily pronounced and easily remembered, 

 significant, and expressive term is so advantageous, 

 that it is worth taking some trouble to select the best. 

 For the subject of this volume some have chosen the 

 word Vivarium, and I have myself occasionally used 

 it. The only objection to it is that it lacks distinct- 

 ness of signification. It literally means any inclosure 

 in which living animals are kept; and the ancients 

 used it to signify a park, a rabbit-warren, and a fish- 

 pond; indeed, I am not sure whether our word "war- 

 ren," is not " Vivarium" Saxonised. Thus it is quite 

 as applicable to the whole Zoological Garden as to 

 any particular house, yard or tank in it. 



To avoid this indefiniteness others have used the 

 term Aqua-vivarium. The objection to this is its 

 awkward length and uncouthness, which render it un- 

 suitable for a popular exhibition or domestic amenity. 



I have adopted the word Aquarium, as being free 

 from the objections which lie against the other two, 

 while it possesses the neatness of the former, and the 

 definiteness of the latter. The term had already been 

 in use among the botanists, to designate the tanks in 

 which aquatic plants were reared; and the employ- 

 ment of the same term for our tanks is not forbidden 

 by the character of the service to which they are put, 

 since this is not an alteration, but only an extension. 



