The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-07-02
THE AQUARIUM or TO-D4T.
Aquarium Making rs it. was and as it Has
Come TO lie.

Aquarium Making rs IT. WAS and as it Has
Come TO lie.
When New York sets up an aquarium
at Castle Garden il will doubtless be
laid out on plan To make II one OF the
notable aquariums Of the world. The art
Of managing FISH IN captivity mas vastly
| Improved since Mr.. Coup set up his inter
| estlns aquarium at Broadway ana Thir-
| ty-hfth street i'm 1876. The aquarists, as
! they now call themselves, have been nard
| al WORK studying and experimenting I'm
| those seventeen years. and the State and
| national fish commissions have added a
vast amount to the stock Of the worlds
! knowledge concerning fish. their needs
an d habits.
The modern aquarium IS a thing scarce
! ~ two centuries old. and i'm It's sci -ntidc
! development a good deal less than one
! century Old IL is a very different affair
| from the ancient aquarium in which RO-
| man bon WANTS kept and bred heir ia
| vOrite fish. 10 is only about $50 years
| since zoophytes began % be kept I'm aqua
| RUINS as objects Of study, and II IS only
little over sixty years since Sir John
| Graham Dalzell set the fashion at his
] home in Edinburgh Of keeping a little
aquarium for the study of fish. lie wrote
| about what he saw. and IL is said hat a
sea anemone lived In his aquarium for
| forty-fve years. In Sir Johns earlier
| days nobody knew the value Of marine
vegetation in an aquarium. IL was not
until about 1899 that agencies for supply
ing marine animals began 10 be estab-
lished i'm London and sea water was regil-
larry purveyed for aquarums. Then the
aquarists began 10 learn that the secret
Of success Of aQuariums Is TO balance the
animal and vegetable life. one expert
menter kept a fish alive in jar for sixty
days without changing the water. The
study of the subject went on for ten
years, and somebody hit upon the COM
pensating system Of keeping an album |
dance Of marine vegetation in the aqua
rum. Seaweeds are not easily transport
cd, but sea water IS so rich On the spores |
Of seaweed that If proper minerals be |
placed In tank Of sea water the pro- |
duction Of visible vegetable life soon be-
gins.
After all these things were discovered
there began 10 be q craze for aquariums
public and private. The London Zoology
cal Society established one just forty
years ago in Regents Park. Then some
body invented a method Of manufacturing
a close imitation Of sea water and the
aquarium craze spread. Great aquarlums
became features of the fisheries exhibit
tions at Amsterdam, at Boulogne. al Ha-
vre and at several other cities The great
Brighton aquarium was built and Il was
and Is one Of the largest and most inter
esting in the world AQuarums were es-
tablshed at the Crystal Palace. London
at Hamburg. at Berlin and at Vienna.
Mary Of these still flourish The aqua-
rum building at Brighton is rs feet long
by 100 feet wide One Of the tanks holds
10000 gallons and has a face Of plate
glass 100 feet long. Large byalve mol
lusks help to keep the water pure and |
water from the sea can be taken in ut !
Will. AT Brighton, however the circu-
lating system Of the Crystal Palace IS
not maintained, and the quantity 4 water
in the show tanks is large compared with
That in the reservoir At the Crystal
Palace five times as much water is kept |
in reserve as is required TO fiji the show
tanks
The most interesting OF European aqua
RUINS is that maintained at Naples. a
most fascinating show place, so arranged
that II is not only a delight 10 the curl
Gus. but an enormously valuable estab-
ishmcnt for those who seek 10 study ma
rine life. Many Of the tanks are so ar
ranged that the visitor may walk all
around them and see their occupants
from every side. The aquarium is rich
N the marvellous marine life Of the Med
terranean.
The New York aquarium Of 1876 was not
4 small affair, and the Park Department
II that day regretted that legal restric-
Ions made IT impossible TO accept Mr..
'oup's offer TO establish II I'm Central
lark The whale tank, fifty feet in diam
ter was perhaps the most striking fea- |
ure Of the aquarium. The whale was
me OF three captured especially for he
aquarium. Two died on the way 10 New
York, but the third reached there alive.
The shark tank was 52xl2x7 feet. and I
here were trout pools and tanks big and
title for all sorts Of creatures that swim !
he deep. one Of the great wall tanks Z
eld fifty thousand gallons OF water. !
l steamer went out beyond Sandy Hook q
D bring in untainted sea water for The 5
eservoir and many monsters OF the deep | +
'ere successfully transported 10 the G
quarium J
The art Of handling marine animals }
as greatly improved since the days OF (
ne New York aquarium and the proper h
on Of losses by death is much smaller | b
/ the aquariums OF to-day than i'm those
earlier times. Even the mere CONNER
al aquarists undertake to supply al
Ost any hnny creature alive and TO send >,
anywhere by rail The elaborate fish =,
RS Of the several fish commissions have :,
.ught the aquarist a great many useful -
ings in the problem Of transportation. -
he aquarium business has so developed :,
at you may OBTAIN regular catalogue | =,
ices not only OF the actual containing :,
ssel, but of FISH. seaweeds. fish food u
ID all the paraphernalia Of the aquarist. -
is interesting To know that tuffstone, oi
petrified plant used in fresh water W
uariums brings from 80 cents 10 $40, IN
cording' TO size and form; that river III
nd sells at 10 cents n quart and peb- Vi
rs at 10 cents a pint; that about twenty al
lter plants fetch from 10 cents 10 s. 10
ch; that floating plants OF half "A dozen W
rieties fetch from 10 TO 80 cents each, w
q that a full assortment for an aqua IN
I'm may be had at from 81 to S. Fish Oh
e even more varied in price Ordinary w
nerican goldfish may be had as low as an
cents apiece, and the best OF them be
ST at retail but so cents. Dwarfed gold sy
fetch from 50 cents 10 81, and the Chi Of
Sc and japanese goldfish, some parti- II,
ored and some double tailed, fetch
m 50 cents TO s. each The albino gold
! fetch from 50 cents TO 81. The nest ?
Hiding paradise fish sell by the pair at | ly
III IS TO Sp.-New York Sun. an