ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
BULLETIN. 
THE AQUARIUM BUILDING IN 1871. 
From the painting by Edward Moran in the Fairmount Park Museum, Philadelphia. 
der cover in this position the eyes are forward, 
the body and the other arms being behind. The 
immediate vicinity of its hole is kept clear of 
debris for about six inches. 
While the water glass is necessary in search- 
ing for it in deep water, the animal sometimes 
lies in a pool between tide marks, hidden of 
course under a ledge, and its shell heap then 
may be entirely out of water at low tide. 
The large Bermuda crayfish or spiny lobster 
greatly fears it, and the fishermen can drive a 
hiding lobster from its hole by placing a dead 
octopus near it. It does not attempt to carry 
home a large lobster, but making an opening 
under the side of the carapace, cleans the flesh 
out entirely, leaving the empty shell intact. 
The octopus is also a crab eater, and frequent- 
ly pursues a crab entirely out of water, follow- 
ing it over the rocks for several feet. When 
live crabs are thrown into the tank of a captive 
octopus, they are seized by the suckers on the 
arms and drawn under the web which connects 
them at the base. Several crabs may be stowed 
away under the web together. 
In captivity, and doubtless in nature also, the 
octopus is more active by night than by day. 
In Bermuda the octopus is sometimes found 
large enough to measure seven feet across the 
outspread arms, but those of the ordinary size 
that come to the Aquarium, measure little more 
than four feet in expanse. 
The octopus sometimes attains a much larger 
size, and West Indian specimens have been re- 
corded with a length of nine feet and a weight 
of sixty-eight pounds. A species on our Pacific 
Coast reaches a length of sixteen feet, or near- 
ly twenty-eight feet across the outspread arms. 
While octopi are known to be timid creatures, 
there is probably no reason why very large spec- 
imens should not be dangerous to man, although 
authentic cases of unprovoked attacks are lack- 
ing. 
THE AQUARIUM BUILDING IN 1871. 
ROM time to time the Bulletin has repro- 
duced old prints or other pictures of the 
Aquarium building. This structure dating 
back to 1807 and successively known as “‘West 
Battery,’ “Castle Clinton,’ “Castle Garden” 
and the “Aquarium,” possesses for many persons 
a decided historical interest. 
The picture presented in the present number 
is from a reproduction of a platinum print, of 
the painting by Edward Moran in the Museum 
of Art, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. It shows 
the building in its Castle Garden stage, shortly 
after the extensive filling-in of earth which 
brought it within the limits of Battery Park. 
According to Mr. Thomas Moran, the painting 
was made in 1871 or 1872, prior to the building 
of the present sea wall. 
