REVIEWS. 
193 
in general, and to the entomological world in particular ; and, with sincere 
thanks to the author, we have done. 
The Aquarium. By Philip Henry Gosse, F.R.S., &c. With six Litho¬ 
graphs, coloured, and Plates. London: John Van Voorst. 1854. 8vo. 
Price 17s. 
“The noblest aspirations of man is his thirst after knowledge, and his chief 
characteristic the power which he possesses of communicating this know¬ 
ledge to others, by records, which not only delight his contemporaries, but, 
surviving the time in which they were written, render the attainments of 
each age subservient to those of succeeding generations—so that not only 
individuals, but the race, is susceptible of progressive improvement; and 
at no previous period has this aspiration after knowledge been so general 
and intense, or the records calculated to diffuse it so numerous—so almost 
overwhelming—as at the present.” So says a distinguished writer in the 
field of natural science, and assuredly his words are verified in the volume 
before us, containing records of some of our marine plants and animals, 
and the means of keeping them in aquariums. 
The thirst after knowledge which man possesses, has led him to adopt 
means of knowing more of those creeping things, whose home is in the 
great deep, than could be enjoyed by looking into those delightful rock 
basins—clothed with the purple corals, and studded with the sea-stars— 
which one finds in many of our sea coasts ; or by walking under the sur¬ 
face in the manner hinted at by our French neighbours—clothed in water¬ 
proof garments, and fitted with gills to prevent suffocation ; and has re¬ 
sulted in man being able to study their history and economy at home by 
his own fireside. 
It is not long since we pronounced favourably on Mr. Gosse’s delightful 
work, “ The Rambles of a Naturalist on the Devonshire Coast,” and now 
we are called upon to notice its charming sequel, “ The Aquarium.” 
The first discoverer of the marine aquarium appears to have been our 
friend, the author of the Eastern Borders ; but we are inclined to think 
that our forefathers may have beguiled the happy hours of their childhood 
in watching the 
-“ Shell-fish slowly gliding 
O’er sunken rocks, or climbing trees of coral,” 
in their natural rock basins; and may have gently placed them in more 
artificial ponds to admire their beauty, when the tide might be revisiting 
