Mr. Lloyd, the Manager of that Aquarium,) in consequence of their finding the Brighton Aquarium not so successful, zoologically considered, as to the health and condition of the animals, and the clearness of the water in the tanks. The Crystal Palace Aquarium was found to he eminently successful in these respects, the most delicate animals being maintained in perfect health and almost free from those parasitic growths to which they are so subject in confinement, whilst the water m the tanks was beautifully transparent and brilliant. The action of the Committee resulted in a proposal to construct an Aquaria in the basement story of the Midland Institute Building, facing the Town Hall, and plans were prepared by the writer for this purpose under the advice of Mr. Lloyd, who was called in to examine and reported favourably upon the proposal. That proposal, however, had ultimately to be given up, in consequence of it being found impracticable to adapt the existing building satisfactorily for the desired object. The idea in this proposal had been to establish a Public Aquarium pure and simple, with appliances for scientific study and instruction, in close connection with the Public Library and Art Gallery, and supported only by a small admission charge; the original cost of construction being intended to be materially reduced by the circumstance of adapting a portion of an existing building and thus avoiding the cost of erecting a new building,
It was strongly felt to be a very desirable thing for a Birmingham Aquarium to be established, and that the situation of Birmingham, in the centre of the country, far removed from any sea-coast, would cause a Marine Aquarium to be a special attraction there, and that it would be both a source of great pleasure, and an object of elevating character for the large population not only of the town, but also of the "Black Country" neighbourhood, who may be said to have a decided turn for Natural History objects as regards animals,- birds, and cottage gardens. The Marine Aquarium, (as remarked by Mr. Hughes in a subsequent paper read before the Natural History Society,) "appeals to the two extremes of society—to the unlettered, who look with wonder and curiosity on strangeness of form and beauty of colour, and to the cultivated, who, from a higher point, regard with profound interest details of structure and affinities and analogies with beings of other times. No greater attraction, or means of intellectual recreation for the working classes of the town and neighbouring mining districts could be devised, because it would he so utterly different from any other existing exhibition, and so suitable as a relief and mental refreshment for those in crowded courts, to whom the sea, with its living wonders, is but a name, No cabinet collection of dried specimens can bring to view such instances, among a thousand others, as the graceful progress of the flat-fishes, or the weird form and muscular contractions of the Cuttle-fish; no picture can rival in colour the markings of the Wrasse, or the living five of the eyes of the Dragonet; no library can give the student suck a clear idea of the inhabitants of the sea from mere description, as can the contemplation of the actual living beings themselves. As a utilitarian agency for the solution of undetermined points in biology, the Aquarium may, in some measure, help in arviving at a
