Oct. 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



AND ACCLIMATISATION. Ill 



no interest whatever except for the advanced zoological student. I 

 will only add, that I am perfectly satisfied by observation and expe- 

 rience, and that I believe the opinion is rapidly gaining ground, that the 

 scientific student would find a collection solely devoted to study, and pre- 

 served in boxes and drawers, far more useful and available for scientific 

 purposes than the stuffed specimens at present arranged in galleries of 

 extent, and crowded with curious and bewildered spectators ; while, on 

 the other hand, the general public would infinitely better understand, 

 and consequently more justly appreciate, a well-chosen and well-exhi- 

 bited selection of a limited number of specimens, carefully arranged, to 

 exhibit special objects of general interest, and to afford a complete 

 series of elementary instruction, than miles of glass cases containing 

 thousands upon thousands of specimens, all exhibited in a uniform 

 manner, and placed like soldiers at a review. I now turn to a very dif- 

 ferent subject, but one which has always occupied a considerable shan 

 of my attention, and on which a few observations may not be out oi 

 place on this occasion — viz., the acclimatisation of animals. This subject, 

 which has been a favourite one with the more thoughtful student, 

 appears all at once to have become popular, and several associations 

 have been formed for the especial purpose of its promotion, not only in 

 this country, but also on the Continent and in the Australian Colonies. 

 I may observe that the acclimatisation of animals, and especially the 

 introduction and cultivation of fish, was among the peculiar objects put 

 forward by the Zoological Society at the time of its foundation, nearly 

 forty years ago, although, as we all know, it has been able to do very 

 little for its promotion. It would appear, from observations that are 

 occasionally to be met with in the public papers, and in other journals, 

 as though it were a prevalent opinion among the patrons of some of these 

 Associations, that scientific zoologists are opposed to their views, or at 

 least lukewarm on the subject. But I am convinced that they are 

 totally mistaken in such a notion, and that it can only have originated 

 in the expression of a belief, founded on experience, that some of the 

 schemes of the would-be acclimatisers are incapable of being carried out, 

 and would never have been suggested if their promoters had been better 

 acquainted with the habits and manners of the animals on which the 

 experiments are proposed to be made. The term " acclimatisation " has 

 been employed in several widely different senses. Firstly, as indicating 

 the domestication of animals now only known in the wild state ; 

 secondly, to express the introduction of the domesticated animals of one 

 country into another ; and thirdly, the cultivation of fishes, &c., by the 

 re-stocking of rivers, the colonization of ponds, or the renovation of 

 worn-out oyster or pearl fisheries by fresh supplies. Commencing with 

 the first of these objects, which is by many regarded as the most impor- 

 tant, I would observe that some animals seem to have been created with 

 more or less of an instinctive desire to associate with man, and to be- 

 come useful to him ; but the number of these is very limited, and, as it 



