New-York tribune., 1907-10-06
FINE FISH COLLECTION.
Rare Specimens at aquarium Seen
by 1000 900 Persons a Year.

One of the most popular free exhibition build
ings in the world is a little circular structure
of brick and brown stone where Father Knick-
erbocker keeps his collection of four thousand
live fish. The Aquarium stands az the extreme
southerly end of Manhattan Island. looking out
on the broad sweep of New York Harbo-, and
backed by the sky-fung turrets of the great
hives of finance which emphasize its unpre-
tentiousness But it attracts more visitors than
the Louvre az Paris. CT St Peters Cathedral
az Rome The tL-oEgs average six thousand
persons daily for 800 days in the year, or total
considerably above two millions, and in the last
summer the daily crowds frequently reached the
twenty thousand mark.
The structure built as harbOr defence
fort exactly one hundred years ago, and called
the Southwest Battery. In 1S23 10 was cedet
20 the city as a public place of amusement. and.
renamed Castle Garden, became famous as q
place where all the great singers and actors OF
the period appeared and the important social
and political gatherings were held From 1S03
TO 1870 II was used as reCeOton station IOr
immigrants and since 1895 has been The Aqua
rum II now contains the finest collection or
live fish in the world, and over eighteen million
persons have been TO see them since IL was
opened.
The collection includes 200 different species.
The fish are contained in . large dOOr pools. u
large wall tanks so smaller tanks and 20 re-
reserve tanks The pumping system circulates
about 100000 gallons Of salt water daily and
nearly much fresh water. In addition 10 the
regular exhibits a fish hatchery is maintained.
which produces about 2,O0000O Of food and
game fish annually.
according to the Aquarium authorities. and re-
quires the constant attention of some twenty
attendants nurses. who look after the food
and water of the piSCatOrlal caDIIVeS and see
that they do not fight. or get injured. or i'll. or
SuCCumb to attacks Of parasites. The FOOD
alone is a considerable problem, for fish
extremely fastidious and will refuse to eat
altogether il the table does not suit them
The turtles-some of them Weighing three nun
dred and fifty pounds or more-COnSLme =
dainty bill of fare of chopped beef, earthworrns
and small muuowS. The young trout and SAL
mon must be fed on minced liver ana herring
roe. The little seahorSeS like 70 part2ke or a
meal of gammaruS minute CruStacear found
in certain kinds of SeamOsS and viii insist
upon this dainty. The big seacow. ON the othe7
hand. disdaining all the products % the garR
den and field that ordinary cows subsist on.
requires a menu Of salt water eel grass and
grass and four of the weed in the course or a
month. Then there is a great Mississippi catfish
that fasts religiously from September to April.
In spite of this frugal habit the fish has gained
twenty pounds in the four years of its captivity
and now weighs about sixty pounds
II will he readily seen from these instances
that 200 species of fish with different appetite
for each species require a versatile chef to cater
To them. For the more ordinary dishes the
Aquarium has special hunters. who sccur the
coast for fish food The ordinary consumption
of this is: Soft clans. $4,000 a month: marine
worms, 1000 a month; musselS, bushels a
wear; shrimp. % quarts a week; minnOws. Is
In addition cod herring, smelt. beef and liver
have to be purchased 10 the extent OF 700 OF 500
pounds a month.
The show fishes Of the Aquarium are the gOr-
geOusly hued specimens thar are brought from
Bermuda such as the angel fish, parrots and
green mOrays. Some of these tropical fish have
lived for four years in the Aquarium in salt
water kept at Gulf Stream temperature the year
round Tue fish are caught at the temporary
biological station maintained az Bermuda by
New York University under the dictatorship OF
Professor c. L. Bristol Geological students at
the university go TO Bermuda in the summer.
and, under the direction of skilled instructors
collect for aQuariums and for the great biological
laboratories of the university in New York the
specimens with which these waters are so pIen-
tifully supplied
Up to the present the Bermuda work has been
handicapped by lack of funds. and the biologists
interested are trying to interest men of wealth
In the establishment OF permanent biOlogical
station at the Flats, Bermuda. the situation OF
which, for securing many varieties OF trOpical
fish, is unexcelled anywhere in the world II
this station be established II is predicted
that thousands of live fish can be shipped north
in year and none OF the larger American cities
need ha without its AQUARIUM of rare specimena