36 
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM JOURNAL 
"W. S.'WA.Fm, Eca.itoi-. 
NEW YORK, DECEMBER 6 , 1876 . 
The Aquarium Journal will be published semi¬ 
monthly at the New York Aquarium, corner of 3 5 /A 
Street and Broadway, New York Citv. 
Though intended for distribution among the 
patrons of the Aquarium, the Journal will also be 
forwarded for one year, by mail, or delivered by 
carriers to any address on receipt of one dollar, which 
sum is a mere nominal one, since it includes postal 
charge and expense of mailing and delivery. 
All communications should be addressed to IV. 
C. COUP, corner 35 th Street & Broadway. 
The progress which has been made in the 
pnrifyiDg and clearing of the water in the tanks 
of the Aquarium is so marked and gratifying 
as to prove a cause for congratulation. Those 
not familiar with the true character of the 
problem now successfully solved, may not be 
aware that it is one of the most vexatious 
and^ie.rplexing of the manager’s trials. Take 
the purest water from mid-ocean and expose 
it to the light of an Aquarium tank and it 
soon loses its clearness, becoming opaque and 
clouded. When the cause for this is sought 
it is oftenest found in the existence of myri¬ 
ads of minute vegetable organisms, too small 
to be defined, yet, when massed, sufficient to 
cloud the water and materially interfere with 
the exhibition of the tank’s contents. The 
removal or destruction of these germs be¬ 
comes, therefore, a most important problem, 
and hence the methods proposed for its ac¬ 
complishment are many and varied. As the 
result of continued experiment, however, it 
has finally been settled that the destruction 
of the germ is best effected by its exposure 
to the air, or by bringing it in contact with 
air currents, and then by keeping the water 
enveloped in darkness. To effect the latter 
the great concealed receiving and storage 
reservoirs are constructed, while the system 
of circulation is depended upon for the oxy- 
dizing of the organic particles and the conse¬ 
quent destruction of their vitality. 
In order to comprehend the subject, let it 
be supposed that the exhibition tanks are 
filled with water which, owing to its needed 
exposure to the light, has become clouded by 
reason of these minute vegetable organisms. 
At a distance from the tanks, and beyond the 
reach of the sun’s rays, are the great reser¬ 
voirs. When the circulating system is in ac¬ 
tive operation the water from the tanks over¬ 
flows and runs back into the dark reservoirs; 
here, owing to the absence of the sunlight, 
the growth of the germ is checked, boon, 
however, the water is caused to start on its 
round again, first being drawn into the pumps. 
from which it is forced along the distributing 
mains till, at stated intervals, it is injected 
into the tanks in fine streams. These streams, 
falling some distance through the air, expose 
the water and the vegetable germs to its ac¬ 
tion. This exposure results in an oxydation 
of the organic matter, which is therefore so 
changed in character as to be less harmful. 
By a continued repetiti^p of this circuit the 
water is eventually rendered perfectly clear, 
and by no other means can it be effected. 
We have been prompted to thu 3 briefly re¬ 
fer to this subject, owing to the frequent in¬ 
quiry addressed to us as to the cause of this 
opacity in the water, and the chance of its 
ultimate removal. Soon there will be no oc¬ 
casion for inquiry, as the defect which sug¬ 
gests it will be absent. In the meantime the 
intelligent visitor to the Aquarium should 
have his interest heightened rather than di¬ 
minished, since he may watch, from day to 
day, the improvement in the water that is 
brought about by such a simple and yet mys¬ 
terious chemical reaction. 
In accordance with a determined purpose 
to render the Aquarium and its Journal an 
object of special interest to the young, we 
have instituted a series of competitive tes t s, 
to be rewarded by prizes, which are to be 
granted to those of our young readers who 
will furnish “compositions” on the subjects 
named . 1 The result of the first, contest ap¬ 
pears on the children’s page, and to the con¬ 
tents of this department we heartily commend 
the attention of our older patrons. 
Our first impulse was to devote the whole 
of the present issue to the publication of 
these youthful essays, for there was not one 
of the many answers received which did not 
contain some feature of peculiar interest. An 
incident given in one of them on the author¬ 
ity of the writer’s grandmamma, is of a na¬ 
ture to merit attention from others whose 
memory may serve to endorse the truth of 
the statement. We refer to the story of the 
whale which once appeared in New York 
Harbor. If any reader has more full and 
satisfactory information regarding this event 
we should be pleased to receive it. * 
Lest our readers should be led to suppose 
that it is intended to devote a full page of 
each number of the Journal to the exhibit of 
the ground plan as shown on the following 
page, we would state that its reproduction 
will be limited to the present number. 
Preparations are making to render the 
Christmas number of the Journal one of 
special interest, and during the coming year 
the columns of the Journal will contain, as 
heretofore, such articles, original and selected, 
as shall be deemed of special interest to those 
engaged in the study of Natural History. 
Several contributors of established reputation 
in this department have been engaged to aid 
in this work and, as in the management of 
the Aquarium itself, the Journal will be so con¬ 
ducted as to commend it to the patronage of 
all who are in sympathy with its purpose and 
aim. 
OUR GROUND PLAN. 
Id presenting to our readers the ground 
plan of the Aquarium, it is done mainly with 
the purpose of indicating the extent and 
complications of the distributing systems. 
Already, in the first number of the Journal. 
an extended description of the me'hod of 
aeration was given, and to this we refer for 
the details of the work. 
WASN’T HE SILLY? 
BY MADGE ELLIOT. 
A Miller’s Thumb came out one day— out of theTyatef; 
To visit Madame Scollop and her very charming daughter. 
“ How well you look, dear Madames, your shell’s the 
height of fashion ; 
For plaits and frills, and ruffs, I’m told, just now there’s 
quite a passion”— 
But he’d no farther got than this, when goodness! what 
a racket, 
And something came along the shore whose shell they 
call a jacket. 
“A Boy !” cried young Miss Scollop, “Oh! hide fish or 
you'll be worried,” 
And in the sand she and her ma themselves soon safely 
buried. 
“ He won’t find me,” said friend M. T., his M T head 
concealing 
Beneath a stone, while, silly fish, his whereabouts re¬ 
vealing— 
His tail flapped wildly in the air. ‘ ‘ Ha ! ha ! ho 1 ho ! 
my hearty,” 
As it he slyly grasped, the boy cried out “no swimming 
party 
From this' time forth will you attend, for I'm a going to 
take you 
Straight home with me —don’t wriggle so —and there I'll 
fry or bake you.” 
“Alas! alas!” wept Miller’s Thumb, “farewell my 
native water, 
Farewell dear Madame Scollop and dear Madame Scol¬ 
lop’s daughter. 
We'll meet no more, in sea, on shore. How did that 
monster find me ? 
My head was hid—he must have seen the tail I left be¬ 
hind me.” 
Oh ! finny tribe a warning take, and mind you don’t 
forget it, 
Whene'er you hide let not your tail tell tales or you’ll 
regret it. 
