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both of these fishes, as well as those of the mackerel floated on the 
surface during the entire period of development. But for this dis¬ 
covery the law would have been passed, and the fishing trade 
would have suflered and the fish supply would have been greatly 
and needlessly diminished. The United States Fish Commission, 
under the charge of Professor Baird, has rendered great service 
to the world by its study of the food fishes. The fisheries form 
such a large and important industry of the world, that any in¬ 
formation as to the habits of food fishes is of much greater im¬ 
portance to trade and to the toiling fisherman than at first sight 
may appear, and the steamer Albatross, with its constantly re¬ 
newed aquarium, has aided the fisherman, has benefited trade, 
has stocked lakes, streams and rivers with edible and with game 
fishes, and thereby has reduced the cost of the most toothsome of 
the finny tribes. The habits of animals can never be thoroughly 
known until they are studied in detail ; and the more we know of 
fishes, the greater the variety of our food supply and the less the 
cost to the consumer. 
A public aquarium insensibly exerts a higher influence than 
that of gratifying gaping curiosity. It gives information in a 
most easy and pleasant way, and at the same time it incites even 
sluggish minds to beneficial activity. For mature minds it would 
be not only an easy pleasure, but an incentive to some form of 
study. Book knowledge usually grows tiresome ; but the knowl¬ 
edge gained from observation, coming so easily, seems to require 
no effort, never becomes stale or monotonous, and opens up to us 
new and pleasant paths of previously undiscovered ability. In 
the pursuit of knowledge the observer has a great advantage 
over the mere book student. The powers of observation are 
best expanded in childhood. The child’s observation, so often 
troublesome with its many queries, is as often termed curiosity. 
Such it occasionally is, but it is a pity that the child does not have 
the satisfying information, at the moment its mere curiosity may 
call for it. Even to children an aquarium is a full satisfaction, 
and the best form of pleasant education in the matters of natural 
history. This kind of study makes them become observers in the 
true sense of the word. There could hardly be provided a better 
supplement to the education of children, a better adjunct to the 
