File:PSM V59 D437 The aquarium.png

"The finest specimens caught or those not required for immediate investigation are either most skilfully preserved for museums or pass into the tanks of the aquarium. And it is possible, without ever going to sea, to gain a very fair idea of the local Mediterranean fauna from that last named part of the institution. The beauty and interest of the aquarium are due, of course, in great measure to the brilliancy and abundance of the rich fauna in the neighboring waters, but also in part to scientific knowledge and skill. The tanks are most carefully watched and governed, and their exact condition is always known —the temperature, specific gravity, number of bacteria present, and other particulars of the water, are constantly tested and considered. The public admiring the tanks in the ground fioor little know of the 'council of war' occasionally summoned in the laboratory upstairs consisting of experts in the subjects concerned, chemistry, biology, bacteriology, to examine some unusual sample or settle some delicate question. And so, by much care and thought, results and effects are produced which we admire greatly in the aquarium and which, although no doubt in part due to the latitude, are also dependent upon the scientific knowledge and manipulative skill behind the scenes.Amongst the fishes, we see in one tank fine specimens of the Muraena —the real old Roman eel—coiling their snake-like bodies through the necks of broken jars just as their ancestors no doubt did two thousand years .ago with the same pots and jars—for those in the tanks are antiques—in the neighboring bay of Baiae. We can see the Torpedo or electric ray in an open shallow tank, and by putting the thumb above and the fingers under the animal's flat shoulders, whilst we pull or squeeze the tail with the other hand, an electric shock can be obtained. Octopus, Squids and other Cuttlefish are present in abundance ; crabs that mimic their surroundings, those with anemones and with sponges on their backs, animals that look like plants, corals and sea-fans of many kinds, worms that live in leathery tubes a foot long and expand out of the top, like gorgeous flowers six inches across with innumerable spirally-arranged petals—these seem to be the favorites with visitors.But probably the most interesting tanks to the scientific man are those containing the recently caught 'plankton,' the Medusas and other delicate and gelatinous surface organisms. There is one marvelous creature that can be seen almost nowhere else, the Cestus veneris, which is like an undlating, pulsating band of light, in some positions absolutely transparent, in others flashing ridescent fire like a diamond from its sides. So much for the public aquarium, which, at an admission fee of two francs, brings in to the institution a revenue of about £1,000 a year".

THE GREATEST BIOLOGICAL STATION IN THE WORLD By Professor W. a. HERDMAN, F.R.S., UNIVERSITY COLLEGE,- LIVERPOOL.