Abstract
THE Manchester Aquarium, situated in the Alexandra Park of that city, has now been opened to the public for more than two years, and has attained considerable success, although we believe it has not quite realised the expectations formed of it by its original promoters. Next to the Brighton Aquarium, that of Manchester is the largest amongst the six principal institutions of this kind existing in the country. The series of tanks, including the deep sea, shallow, and fresh-water groups, is sixty-eight in number, surpassing that of any other aquarium, while their linear frontage falls little short of 700 feet, which is but slightly less than that of the well-known establishment at Brighton. The building itself is of the plainest possible design, and at first sight seems as if it had been originally destined for a church of some kind. It consists of a high central oblong nave and two narrow side aisles. Being lofty and well lighted, however, it affords excellent accommodation for the smaller tanks which line it on both sides, as well as for the two fine large tanks, upwards of forty feet in length, which are situated at the two extremities. The proprietors of the Manchester Institution have been moreover fortunate in securing the services of a competent scientific naturalist as its director, an advantage shared by few if any of the sister establishments. Mr. W. Saville Kent transferred his services from Brighton to Manchester some two years ago. One of the last things he did at Brighton was to prepare the excellent Handbook to the Aquarium there which has been already noticed in this journal. We have now before us a copy of the third edition of the same author's “Guide-book to the Manchester Aquarium,” prepared somewhat after the same fashion. After a few words of introduction describing the building and the general management, the sixty-eight tanks and their contents are discussed successively. A large amount of information upon the various fishes and other animals which they contain is thrown together in a very popular and readable form, and woodcuts are introduced illustrating the more attractive and noticeable objects exhibited. The Guide-book is concluded by a chapter on the principles of management of aquaria generally, which cannot fail to be of service to those who are interested in such matters, and which proves that Mr. Kent is fully master of the subject of which he treats.
Official Guide-book to the Manchester Aquarium.
W. Saville
Kent
By the Curator, Third edition. Twentieth thousand. (Michaelmas, 1875.)
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Official Guide-book to the Manchester Aquarium . Nature 13, 85 (1875). https://doi.org/10.1038/013085a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/013085a0