64 tkE NEW YORK AQUARIUM JOURNAL. 
examining these beautiful cteatUrbS; little guess¬ 
ing that in every pool on their own coast num¬ 
bers of them blushed unseen and unnoticed ! 
But these tumblers required refreshing every day; 
and the morning occupation for the children of 
the household was to bring up a can of fresh 
sea-water and change the water in each tumbler. 
After this refreshment came the great exhibition 
of the day. Each living flower seemed to vie 
with the other in spreading itself out, in unfold¬ 
ing all its tentacles, and in displaying every va¬ 
riety of color and shade. 
fiy-and-by a foot-bath was brought down from 
one of the bedrooms, or a large pie-dish smug¬ 
gled from the kitchen, and the first experiments 
tried in keeping a marine aquarium. Much 
vexation of spirit and disappointment ensued. 
The sea-anemone would die; the hermit-crabs 
struggled out of their shells and dragged up the 
growing weeds, and failure resulted after many 
early attempts. But at last the true balance was 
found; the weeds began to grow, the animals to 
live just as the time for departure from the sea- 
Coast was inevitable, and it seemed impossible to 
transport the now perfect aquarium to the Lon¬ 
don study. But even this difficulty was over¬ 
come; and by means of bottles and cans, and 
gallons of sea-water, carefully packed, the pre¬ 
cious treasures were safely conveyed far away 
from their native shores, and flourished for many 
years in an inverted propagating glass, set in a 
piece of rock-work, in one of the most densely 
Crowded streets of smoky London. 
Now that we are surrounded with aquaria, 
when every great city and nearly every large town 
has its own aquarium, it is curious and interesting 
to trace their beginnings. The aquarium in the 
Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, was the first 
that was opened to the public. In May, 1854, 
it was announced as open, and described by Dr. 
- 
even then the idea of a marine aquarium away 1 
from the sea-coast was thought to be an impossi¬ 
bility. It was only fresh-water plants and fishes 
that were then to be seen in the Regent’s Park 
gardens. It was Dr. Lankester who first ven¬ 
tured to write, when describing this little aquari¬ 
um: ‘But why should we not have sea-fishes? 
These are to come. Ere long every inhabitant 
of London will be able to se£ what up to the 
present time has been seen only by the adven¬ 
turous and sea-tossed dredger, who, casting his 
tet to the bottom of the ocean, has beheld its 
numerous inhabitants in the freshness of life.’ 
The same enthusiastic naturalist writes also in 
1853 : ‘Who that has passed a stream, know¬ 
ing that its waters are thronged with life, has not 
longed to have the power of watching the move¬ 
ments of its swift and timid inhabitants ? In 
this fish-house we see at a glance what days of 
watching elsewhere would not afford.’ Nearly 
a generation has passed away since these words 
were written, but how true they have proved to 
be ! The writer of them lived to see his prophe¬ 
cies fulfilled in Britain and on the continents of 
Europe and America. 
We have said that the true principle on which 
an aquarium should be conducted is, never to 
change the water, but so to serate and refresh 
the original supply as to maintain it always in a 
pure and perfect state. The water in the Crystal 
Palace Aquarium is the same that was taken Irom 
the sea five years ago ; and the same system, witn 
some improvements, is adopted in the West¬ 
minster Aquarium. The means used to attain 
the end in view are several. Not only is great 
Importance attached, both in the lresh and ma¬ 
rine tanks, to the healthy growth of plants which 
afford oxygen to the water ; but also active and 
brisk contact with the air oi the atmosphere is 
found greatly to freshen the water. Motion in 
the water is therefore essential. In the large 
aquaria, this is insured by an arrangement of 
tanks, into which the water is pumped, and from 
which it flows rapidly, circulating through the 
tanks inhabited by fish. In its passage through 
the air, it absorbs a considerable quantity of oxy¬ 
gen ; and in the smaller domestic apparatus of 
which We moie particularly speak, the same 
thing is affected by frequently drawing the water 
up through a glass or gutta-percha syringe, and 
squirting it back into the vessel from some hight 
above it, So as to let the jet pass through after 
having come in contact with the air. Mr. Lloyd 
says ; ‘Water in aquaria should be regarded as a 
practically indestructible medium for the admin¬ 
istration of atmospheric air to plants and ani¬ 
mals.’ At Westminster, the water travels over 
a distance of nearly three miles between the 
beginning and end of its circuit, for the purpose 
of aeration. 
Perhaps some of our readers may be enter¬ 
taining the notion of forming an aquarium. It 
may be in a glass vessel, a globe, or vase placed 
in one of the window-cases—noticed in a recent 
article—surrounded with rock-work and growing 
plants. Nothing forms a prettier or more attrac¬ 
tive centre for a window-garden than one of these 
pools or crystal tanks of water in a state of 
healthy preservation. Or it may be that the only 
available receptacle for the aquarium is a large 
glass pickle-bottle, or a jar such as confectioners 
use, or even a finger-glass. Well! more living 
organisms than one observer could well describe 
in a year may grow, and live, and flourish in 
the smallest of these vessels, especially if atten¬ 
tion be paid to the microscopic inhabitants of 
the water, whose name is legion. In dirty sit¬ 
uations and in smoky towns, it will generally be 
necessary to cover the top of the aquarium with 
a piece of glass or muslin, to keep out the 
‘blacks.’ 
The first thing to be done in the formation of 
a fresh-water aquarium is, if possible, to estab¬ 
lish the plants—to place them in suitable soil at 
the bottoin of your tank, and leave them undis- 
TiRkfid --€ 3 $ QSF 1 '' < light m, "water,' 
until they begin to grow, and tfie littla active 
bubbles of oxygen are seen rising to the surface 
of the water. We have grown Valisneria spiralis, 
water crowfoot, the starworts, the various species 
of Chara, and the Canadian water-weed ( An - 
acharis alsinastrum) in profusion. The soil best 
to plant such in as have roots, is clean river-sand 
mixed with pebbles. Such plants as Confervae 
and others which float on the water and do not 
take root in the soil, do not, of course, require 
planting. After choosing your plants from such 
as you may collect from rivers and ponds in any 
country ramble, plant them, and cover the sur¬ 
face of the ground with bits of rock, pebbles, or 
anything that is suitable and in harmony with 
the rest of the arrangements. Do not put sea- 
shells into a fresh-water aquarium, or artificial 
objects where all should be natural. Then fill 
the vessel with water very carefully through a 
funnel or syphon, so as not to disturb the soil 
and the roots of your plants. 
The same caution has to be observed in estab¬ 
lishing a marine aquarium, which, it must be 
confessed, is altogether a task of more difficulty 
than a fresh-water collection. The weeds must 
then be introduced growing and attached to the 
stones on which they have naturally established 
themselves. The fronds and sprays of sea-weed 
washed up by the tide and left on the shore are 
of no use, and will only decay and injure the 
water. It is growing and liking vegetation that 
we want. A selection of the pretty red sea-weeds 
so common in rocky pools, with the bright 
green fronds of Ulva lalissima and Bryopsis plu- 
?nosa, give color and brilliancy to a marine 
aquarium, which is unattainable in the fresh¬ 
water colony. But it is not so easy to replace 
the inevitable losses which must take place in 
the early stages of a marine aquarium when re¬ 
moved from the sea-side. Let all who are near 
the coast establish a domestic sea-water pool, and 
enjoy all the pleasure it affords in watching the 
development and curious habits of the beautiful 
creatures who may colonize it. But in towns, 
unless under very favorable circumstances, a 
fresh-water aquarium will yield more satisfaction 
with less vexation, as we know from experience. 
In order to manage an aquarium comfortably, a 
few simple instruments should be kept at hand. 
A little hand-net, which may be bought for six¬ 
pence or made for a penny—simply a ring of 
galvanized wire with a muslin bag fastened to a 
stick for a handle. This is convenient for 
catching the creatures, fish or shells, without 
putting the hand into the water, and it is also 
useful in removing dead bodies. A pair of 
wooden foreceps, like a pair of glove-stretchers, 
is also most convenient for the same purpose— 
to nip off bits of decaying weeds or to catch 
floating particles in the water. Glass tubes of 
various sizes may be kept, which act by being 
put into the water with the finger over the aper¬ 
ture at the top. The tube, until the finger be 
removed, will remain filled with air; place it 
over any little bit of decaying weed or particle of 
refuse, and on removing the finger, the water 
will rush in, carrying with it the offending ob¬ 
ject up into the tube. Then a glass syringe or 
squirt is necessary, with which to serate the water 
thoroughly at least once a day, and oftener if 
possible, by filling it and then holding it high 
above the tank to squirt the water back again. 
Some persons constantly use a pan or bellows 
with an india-rubber tube attached to the nozzle, 
to propel air in through the water. 
We have frequently been obliged to do this 
when we kept a marine aquarium and per¬ 
haps discovered a dead sea-anemone or a 
little fish under a stone, giving off offensive 
gases and escaping detection in the midst of the 
sea-weed. After removing the dead mass, and 
perhaps the stones infected by it, we have, by 
thoroughly aerating the water, restored the aquar¬ 
ium to a perfec ’y pure condition. We are 
thus particular in .giving directions as to the for¬ 
mation of an aquaf.’krfl, EsCSKSe‘W8-kh6W"'irbin 
experience the difficulties that surround first at¬ 
tempts. It is by no means to men of science 
alone that the study of aquatic zoology is in¬ 
debted. Amongst the earliest successful at¬ 
tempts to keep water-animals captive in a living 
and healthy state, were those of ladies in their 
own homes. When we come to consider in our 
next article the animals which live and thrive 
best in aquaria, we shall find our best authorities 
are ladies who have experimented and sur¬ 
mounted difficulties, and have given us the re¬ 
sult of their labors. It was a Scottish lady, Miss 
Elizabeth Dalyell, who largely assisted her 
brother, Sir John Dalyell, during his half-cen¬ 
tury of study of marine animals in Edinburgh 
from 1795 to 1850. It was a lady who kept a 
cage of captive cuttle-fishes at Messina in 1842, 
and wrote a charming book on the habits and 
ways of the octopus, from her own observations. 
And the first successful attempt to keep sea-water 
fresh and unchanged, by the action of living 
sea-weeds, was made by Mrs. Anna Thynne in 
1846. Only two ladies are now alive who are 
known to have reared captive sea-anemones from 
babyhood to adult age. For a period of ten 
years, irom i860 to 1870, but little was done or 
written, or thought publicly about aquaria ; still, 
we know of households where they were kept 
and fostered, and of women, young and old, 
who tended, and fed, and cared for the living 
pets of their aquaria with as much zeal as others 
bestowed on the feathered friends of an aviary, 
and with the additional reward of having appre¬ 
hended and applied the true principles of science 
to their small water-world. We propose in our 
next paper to enter more fully into a description 
of the interesting inhabitants of the aquarium, 
fresh and marine.— Chamber’s Journal. 
It is the only Marine Aquarium in North 
America, and has already collected an interest¬ 
ing array of illustrations of marine life .—New 
York World . 
