28 
THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM JOURNAL 
"W. S. Editor. 
NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 22 , 1876 . 
The Aquarium Journal will be published semi¬ 
monthly at the New York Aquarium, corner of 35 th 
Street and Broadway, New York Cilv. 
Though inteyided 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 W. 
C. COUP, corner 35 th Street & Broadway. 
In giving to onr readers the following edi¬ 
torial endorsement of the New York Aquari¬ 
um, from the November number of the Pop¬ 
ular Science Monthly, it is done with a two¬ 
fold purpose. First-—that the public may be 
assured of the genuine value of the Aquarium, 
since it meets the favor of so worthy and just 
authority; and Second—that we may direct 
attention to the plan, now rapidly maturing, 
by which the manager of the Aquai'ium pro¬ 
poses to render the institution readily acces¬ 
sible to the youth of our city and their in¬ 
structors, and the efforts they are making to 
—favor the cause of science and popular instruc¬ 
tion, through the agency of this enterprise. 
The following is the editorial endorsement 
above mentioned: 
“ The devotees of rational amusement, the 
lovers of natural history, and the friends of 
scientific education, in this city, are to be 
congratulated on the establishment of the 
Aquarium which was recently completed and 
opened to visitors. Undoubtedly the devo¬ 
tees of rational amusement are not so numer¬ 
ous as they might be, but they will increase 
in numbers as increasing facilities are afford¬ 
ed for combining agreeable recreation with 
instructive observation in the acquisition of 
pleasant knowledge without much trouble. 
As a means of increasing the general taste 
in natural history, and affording students the 
opportunity of familiarizing themselves with 
forms of life hitherto inaccessible and known 
chiefly in books, the Aquarium is invaluable, 
and will be a great help in promoting the 
work of science. The museum shows us dead 
specimens stuffed, dried, and variously pre¬ 
served, and is of course not without interest. 
But the Aquarium opens to us the living, 
moving curiosities and wonders that are no¬ 
where else to be seen. What the menagerie 
is to the creatures of the forest, the desert, 
and the prairie, the Aquarium is to the ten¬ 
ants of the lake, the river, and the ocean. 
But, while land-animals have long been cap¬ 
tured and collected for inspection, the Aqua¬ 
rium is a new and recent affair, involving 
great difficulties in its successful management. 
These difficulties can only be overcome at 
large expense, by persevering experience, and 
through special and thorough knowledge of 
the conditions of life of an immense variety of 
aquatic creatures. The opportunity such an 
establishment opens to the scientific obsei-ver, 
investigator, and experimenter, should be 
highly prized, and we have no doubt it will 
be well appreciated by this class of students. 
Tn an educational point of view, or as a 
means of popular instruction, a well-stocked 
aquarium cannot fail to be of the highest 
value. . Natural history is a growing subject 
in our schools, but is so generally pursued 
merely from text-books which give no real 
knowledge, that a great available museum of 
living objects is precisely what is wanted to 
give reality and efficiency to this branch of 
study. The New York Aquarium should be 
brought into very close relations with the 
common-school system of the city. We are 
glad to observe that this element of its use¬ 
fulness has not been overlooked in the plan 
and management of the enterprise. Provisions 
for study, instruction, and systematic obser¬ 
vation have been incorporated with it, and 
this feature has been held so important as to 
be placed in special charge of a cultivated 
naturalist, Mr. W. S. Ward, who has been 
abroad this season and visited the chief 
aquariums of Europe, with a view of acquir¬ 
ing information that will be valuable to the 
scientific management, and who will devote 
himself to the educational service of the in¬ 
stitution. 
It is a noteworthy fact that we are indebted 
for the New York Aquarium entirely to pri¬ 
vate enterprise. There was talk that the city 
would establish something of the kind in the 
Central Park ; but it came to nothing, and, 
after the municipal fizzle over the fossil resto¬ 
rations undertaken by Mr. Waterhouse Haw¬ 
kins, we may conclude that, it was perhaps 
best that the city did not undertake this work. 
But what it was unable or disinclined to do 
has been projected and carried out by the 
persevering enterprise of Mr. W. C. Coup, 
who has devoted his energy to its organiza¬ 
tion, and risked his money upon his chance of 
success. The aquarium is an honor to this 
metropolis and promises a large benefit to the 
public, and it should be liberally patronized 
and well sustained. We have no doubt it 
will meet from all classes with the encourage¬ 
ment it certainly deserves.” 
Tn response to this just recognition of the 
value of Aquaria as an aid to popular in¬ 
struction, we would state that Mr. Coup has 
under consideration the plan of admitting to 
the Aquarium the public school pupils and 
their instructors at mere nominal rates. In 
addition to this, it is his purpose to so adjust 
the scale of prices that those of our public 
instructors who may desire to study the hab¬ 
its and structure of the fish, may do so with¬ 
out any serious drain upon their purses. This 
purpose of the manager is a determined one, 
and measures are already on foot to put it in 
definite form. Already has the Aquarium 
been thrown open to the free admission of all 
the children of our orphan asylums, and the 
heads of our educational institutions will find 
on inquiry that a generous recognition of 
their claims has already been made. 
The e iucational department, as has already 
been announced, is free to all who desire to 
avail themselves of the advantages here af¬ 
forded. A fine scientific library is open to 
the use of students and the public. A natu¬ 
ralist’s laboratory is also completed and fully 
furnished with all needed appliances for spe¬ 
cial investigation; and the director of this 
department not only stands ready to assist in 
this service, but specially requests the presence 
of those whose studies or tastes incline them 
to this service. 
Without any purpose of self-commendation 
it is yet justly claimed that, as now constitu¬ 
ted, the New York Aquarium is without a ri¬ 
val in the encouragement and advantages it 
offers for free scientific instruction and re¬ 
search. 
HINTS TO THE PUBLIC. 
It seems due to the manager of the Aqua¬ 
rium, as well as to the public whose favor he 
desires, to make the following suggestion, 
namely:—Fish are, of all creatures, the most 
sensitive to change, either in location or 
habits. Hence it is not surprising, though 
often discouraging to those most interested, 
to know that at least 50 per cent of the fish 
which find their way to the tanks are not 
destined long to remain therein. The re¬ 
straint of confinement and the unavoidable 
accidents incident upon their transportation, 
render their prolonged existence—save in the 
more hardy species — extremely doubtful. 
Hence our advice to those specially interested 
in the examination of the new and rare spec¬ 
imens exhibited is, that immediately after the 
presence of some new object is announced, 
that it be seen at once. An instance illustrative 
of this is afforded in the history of the An¬ 
glers or Sea-devils. The present specimen is 
the third one which has been received within 
the last two weeks, the first two having died 
almost immediately after their arrival; and 
to those who miss seeing this curious crea¬ 
ture we can but say that it will be their own 
fault rather than any neglect of the manager. 
What is true of the “ Angler” will prove true 
in many other instances. Hence this hint, 
which we trust will be taken as “ a word to 
the wise,” and need no repetition. 
OUR GROUND PLAN. 
In 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 system. 
Already, in the first number of the Journal, 
an extended description of the method of 
aeration was given, and to this we refer for 
the details of the work. 
At present, in connection with the illustra¬ 
tion, it is only necessary to add that there 
has been no exaggeration in the number and 
extent of the circulating pipes used; and an 
examination of their position will serve to 
indicate their purpose. Let it be remembered 
that the two separate series of fresh and salt 
water tanks require each its own system of res¬ 
ervoirs, pumps, distributing and conducting 
pipes; and in the case of the whale, sea lion, 
seal and hatching tanks, separate supply and 
delivery pipes are needed, since the water 
used in these cases cannot be punktd by aera¬ 
tion, but must be constantly replaced by fresh 
supplies from the sea, or, in case of the hatch¬ 
ing troughs, from the Croton mains. 
The plan as here presented may also serve 
to assist the visitor in the location of the fish, 
as given on the last page, although the plan 
there presented was designed for this special 
purpose. 
