New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-12-01
JOHN PAUL AT BRIGHTON
THE GREAT AQUARIUM AND SOME OF IT'S
INHABITANTS


pr,gh,on n have a look at the great Aquarium
and see if any fish other than the sole was 20 DC
found in the Kingdom. Always sole is something
Ike touiours perdrlx.' At London grill
room one day-a day marked In my calenoar
thenceforward with white stone-we fouhu whi'e-
ho;t This Is a little fish scarce larger than
aarnine -needle, but platterful does very well
~ h.en dinner on. And shall always carry IN
INV mind pleasant memories OF whiteoalt as OPP
nosed TO what had become my bete-noir-the IN
evi,able sole. As to vegetables, had Already
satisfied myself by a careful study OF the Royal
Botanical Gardens, as well as of various market
ones that England had but two-lrsh potatoes
and Rrussels sprouts. As for the occasional cauli-
Rowers one runs across, they come from Constan-
t,nople. and the artichokes from Jerusalem
They have the aquarium of the world at Brgh-
BON In cons TO Brighton from London one secs
how Engishmen come to be so much IN love WIN
tbe,r own country and to think there can be none
other under the sun worth living in. IL all seems
one great garden; fields, under nearly rs much cul
tivation as flower beds are with us, enVlroheo Wy
neatly trimmed hedges cottages smnng unuer
their old-fashioned thatchings, ana stra" THURS
that &C works Of art would do to send 10 any
national exposition. One comes to understands
too. what Mrs Browning meant IN making Au'oi'
leigh complain Of the tameness OF Ehshsn soe"',S
ne compared to that OF Italy, saying 'ha' Wiii' ~
the one YOU have eagles nest, the o.net SUE
rests q cackling barnyard fowl and new-laiu CESS
for breakfast But for living purposes 90 n"O
tnoy Int I'd permanently quarter myself near 'n'
hen rather than the eagle
Brighton being within easy run OF Loh"on
n that city what Long Branch is TO New iorA
II bas a famous sea-wall as we'll as an aqu"'.u"
and abounds with boarding houscs-al oi wiz"
rail- themselves hotels-and hotels, which "i' III
reality observation-disclosures The pest ho'ei 10 "on
Zoo GOOD for any American. If Won can do no he'-
tor Int must economze 60 across the way an" NV
IN tho Aouarinm. Here at least you'll ma gooo
Ashland always fresh
Inside this wonderful Aquarium, which covers
80, oors or tvo. YOU stand-for all practical
nnrposes save the single one of getting wet-oh uie
eoor If the ocean with red mullets, cuttle-nsn'
Nopnders mackerel sting-rays sticklebacks' bass
,ohsters dogfsh cod, turbot, sturgeon, sfEirks
coroer cells six feet long, too many hsh, hdeeu
M mention in this place. swimming AROUND you
And on and among the rocks you see sea-anemohes,
coral. deadmen's fingers, all the vegetation Oh
the deem growing in wild luXuriance was t"o
DAYS al Brighton, and all of that time was gwen
10 the Aquarium. Hour after hour stoou pV
the tanks where anemones, tinted WIN orahee
and purple. unfoldcd themselves like gorgeous
flowers in some brilliant parterre. One would as
som think of looking for deadly and lnsldlouS
DESIGN under the bonnet of country mllK-m'lu
as into the hood of one of these larry ho"elo'
whose slken flament gracefully waving IN "e
water correspond to floating hair and streaming
ribbons on earth But each petal OF THESE lair
flowers each seeming stamen, is cruel ARM 'i'e
,nost fatal Of tentacles An uhwary shrimp APP
H. nc nd an
rose-leaf at which he may nibble He puts out
feeler to see how it tastes See him starh
An electric shock leads him to think that he hns
unvittinrly walked up an electric eel or stepped
incautiously on some uninsulated inch OF the
ocean cable and before he can recover from his
snrprise or call on feOw-shrimps for aid, arm
after arm folds around him, and he finds himself
hacked away in a stomach, without having gone
through a mouth. Next he is dlgested without
having been chewed. By-and-by the shrimp Is
elected and floats up TO the surface. But IL IS
only the skeleton of shrimp not at all the plump
shrimp you knew And you think OF lips red as
rose leaves which once tempted you, and OF the
terrible fate that might have been yours had the
anemone of that occasion thought you worth
the trouble.
One of the tanks no 6, in which porpoises
are exhibited when they have them, but which
at the time of my visit was tenanted by nothing
larger than sharks is more than 100 feet long
By 40 WIDE and contains Ito 600 gallons OF sea
water In it a number of sharlls-lithe tigers of
the sea-drab-backed and white-bellied, keep up
their silent and deadly patrol. In tanks on the
opposite side of the corridor spotted dog-fsh-hrst
cousins of the shark-with skins like leopards
glide gracefully through the water The clumsy
cod-clodhopper of the deposits soggily on his
tail or heavily heaves his awkward shoulders
and head into ungainly view as he numbers up
the side of the tank, whence he Owlishly stares
and makes stupid faces at you. But contemn not
the cod He is the OK OF the ocean, and one
never tires of his havoreSs flesh, and he furnishes
a sort of beef for millions.
Huge crayish stalk over the gravelly bottoms
of their cages looking something like scorpions
on stills But the strangest fish of all TO me
was the octopus, the devil-ish OF common speak
ing, the terrible Pieuvre" of Victor Hugo As
he lies all coiled up he is absolutely shapeess,
and anything shapeless-though 1t be but last
years hat-haS a terror for conventional minds
But il is when he takes 1t into his head
10 promenade and, loosening his suckers from
the rocks, stretches out his legs and drags his
abominable body along by successive bitches
perhaps affording front view of his internal
mouth-then it is that you start back and lose any
desire to be fish and with the fishes swim.
When he cuts altogether loose from his hold
ing-placeS and starts across the tank. he has IA
wonderfully weird look; one thinks OF a comet
streaming through space. Were his form more
symmetrical. there would be some suggestion OF
the girls you see swimming at Irouvllle. with
streaming slashed sleeves and long, trailing
trousers His propeller is a novel idea. and do
not wonder that attempts have been made 10
patent IT, IL is placed at what seems bis head
rather than his stern, for the octopus seems TO
prefer going ahead stern first. 1t is merely a
tube or funnel, which he fills with water and then
empues suddenly-the water thus eIected acting
against the other water and pushing him along