176 THE AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST. 
Firstly I shall give you an insight into the history of 
Aquarium-keeping, pass on to the principles of the Aquarium 
and its management, and conclude by showing on the screen how 
I keep my fish under natural conditions and in fish-tanks. 
What is an Aquarium? ‘This we should know first. W. A. 
Lloyd, of London, whom we might well call the father of the 
Aquarium, and certainly the first to solve the great problem 
of keeping a fish-tank without changing the water, as a boy 
visited the London Zoo. He noticed a new building being fin- 
ished, and asked of a passing attendant what it was to be. He 
got as an answer, “a fish-house; some people call it an Aquarium.” 
He added his doubts of its ever becoming a success and the im- 
propriety of its being introduced into a Zoological Garden. 
To keep fish in a bowl, there are records of over 200 years 
ago; but Henry Philip Gosse is credited with being the first 
to use the word Aquarium in its present sense, in his book en- 
titled “The Aquarium,” in 1854. 
The term Aquarium was at the time justly objected to, be- 
cause it signifies a vessel in which only water may be held, and 
does not express, as it should do, that it also contains animals 
and plants. So, too, “fish-house” was felt to be inexpressive, as 
other animals besides fish are maintained in it. Then Vivarium 
was proposed and not accepted, because it meant all kinds of’ 
animals, aquatic and otherwise. The London Zoological Society, 
in a book published in its early days, then called its collection 
of animals, ranging from Zoophytes to Monkeys, a Vivarium. 
Then Charles Knight suggested the word “Aquavivarium.” 
which was so far an improvement on the other names, that it 
conveys the idea of animal life in water, yet it did not inelude 
plants, which are as necessary as the animals, beside what a 
clumsy long name, Aquavivarium. 
It was then suggested to find some name to express water, 
plants, and animals, but as no such word exists, either in Latin 
or the Saxon languages, it was found best to accept the word 
Aquarium, and this name, selected by an Englishman, has been 
conventionally accepted for the past 64 years in all English- 
speaking countries, and used throughout the world without trans- 
lation. He was Henry Philip Gosse, of London. 
It must therefore be understood that the word “Aquarium” is 
employed as a collective term for all associations of water, 
plants, animals, tanks, apparatus and buildings containing such 
things. 
(To be continued. ) 
