[Illustration: PLATE V.
1. Laurencia pinnatifolia.
2. Polysphonia parasitica.
3. Ulva latissima.
4. Rhodymenia lacinata.
5. Gracilaria confervoides.
6. Codium bursa.
7. Iridæa edulis.
8. Zonaria parvula.
9. Ectocarpus tomentosus.
10. Corallina officinalis.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCEAN GARDENS:
The History of the Marine Aquarium,
AND
THE BEST METHODS NOW ADOPTED FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT
AND PRESERVATION.
BY
H. NOEL HUMPHREYS,
AUTHOR OF “BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS;”
“BRITISH MOTHS AND THEIR TRANSFORMATIONS;”
“INSECT CHANGES;” ETC.
[Illustration]
LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, SON, AND CO., 47 LUDGATE HILL.
MDCCCLVII.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON:
THOMAS HARRILD, PRINTER, SALISBURY SQUARE, FLEET STREET;
AND SILVER STREET, FALCON SQUARE.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENTS.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER II.
THE FLOOR OF THE OCEAN 9
CHAPTER III.
THE AQUARIUM 19
CHAPTER IV.
THE VEGETATION OF THE MARINE AQUARIUM 39
CHAPTER V.
THE ZOÖPHYTES 51
CHAPTER VI.
THE MOLLUSCS, &c. 64
CHAPTER VII.
THE ASCIDIANS, BARNACLES, SEA-CUCUMBERS, NAKED
MOLLUSCS, SEA-WORMS, &c. 86
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FISH AND CRUSTACEANS OF THE AQUARIUM 95
CHAPTER IX.
CONCLUSION 106
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LIST OF PLATES.
[Illustration]
PLATE I.
SEA-WEEDS.
NO. PAGE
1. _Delesseria sanguinea_ The Crimson Delesseria 45
2. _Punctaria latifolia_ The Broad-leaved Punctaria 45
3. _Chordaria flagelliformis_ The Whip-like Chordaria 45
4. _Vaucheria submarina_ The Submarine Vaucheria 45
5. _Hildenbrandtia rubra_ The Red Hildenbrandtia 45
PLATE II.
SEA-WEEDS.
1. _Bangia fusco-purpurea_ The Dark-purple Bangia 46
2. _Codium tomentosum_ The Closely-haired Codium 46
3. _Bryopsis plumosa_ The Feathery Bryopsis 41, 46
4. _Callithamnion arbuscula_ The Tree-like Callithamnion 46
5. _Leathesia Berkleyi_ Berkley’s Leathesia 46
6. _Laminaria phyllitis_ The Leafy Laminaria 46
PLATE III.
1. _Porphyra vulgaris_ The Common Porphyra 46
2. _Dumantia filiformis_ The Slender Dumantia 46
3. _Asperococcus Turneri_ Turner’s Asperococcus 47
4. _Rytiphlæa pinastris_ The Pine-like Rytiphlæa 47
5. _Chrysymenia rosea_ The Rose-coloured Chrysymenia 47
6. _Peyssonetia Dubyi_ Duby’s Peyssonetia 47
7. _Chordaria divaricata_ The Minutely-branching
Chordaria 47
8. _Ectocarpus siliculosus_ The Podded Ectocarpus 46
9. _Nemaleon multifida_ The Many-cleft Nemaleon 46
10. _Nytophyllum punctatum_ The Spotted Nytophyllum 46
PLATE IV.
SEA-WEEDS.
1. _Chondrus crispus_ The Curly Chondrus 41, 47
2. _Gigartina acicularis_ The Needle-shaped or Pointed
Gigartina 47
3. _Ceramium strictum_ The Pink Ceramium 47
4. _Zonaria atomaria_ The Speckled Zonaria 47
5. _Plocamium coccineum_ The Scarlet Plocamium 47
PLATE V.
SEA-WEEDS.
1. _Laurencia pinnatifolia_ The Pinnate-leaved Laurencia 42, 48
2. _Polysphonia parasitica_ The Parasitic Polysphonia 48
3. _Ulva latissima_ The Broad-leaved Ulva 48
4. _Rhodymenia lacinata_ The Lace-edged Rhodymenia 42, 48
5. _Gracilaria confervoides_ The Sponge-like Gracilaria 49
6. _Codium bursa_ The Purse-like Codium 49
7. _Iridæa edulis_ The Eatable Iridea 48
8. _Zonaria parvula_ The Lesser Zonaria 48
9. _Ectocarpus tomentosus_ The Hairy Ectocarpus 49
10. _Corallina officinalis_ The Common Corallina 49
PLATE VI.
SEA-ANEMONES, STAR-FISH, ETC.
1. _Geniaster equestres_ The Small Scarlet Star-fish 101
2. _Asterina gibbosa_ The Gibbous Star-fish 101
3. _Palmipes membranaceus_ The Bird’s-foot Star 101
4. _Cribella oculata_ The Eyed Star-fish 101
5. _Palæmon serratus_ The Common Prawn 98
6. _Edwardsia vestita_ The Clothed Sea-Anemone 54
PLATE VII.
1. _Actinia clavata_ The Nailed Sea-Anemone 55
2. _Pennatula phosphorea_ The Phosphoric Sea-pen 61
3. A Group of _Ascidians_ 86
4. A Shell of the Common
Whelk, on which are two
specimens of _Balanus_ The Acorn-shell 88
PLATE VIII.
1 & 2. _Actinia The Carnation-like Sea-Anemone
mesembrianthemum_ of different colours 57
3. _Actinia gemmacea_ The Gemmed Sea-Anemone 55
4. _Lucernaria auricula_ The Auricula-like Lucernaria 59
5. _Virgularia mirabilis_ The Rod-like Sea-Pen 62
PLATE IX.
1. _Actinia anguicoma_ The Serpent-haired Sea-Anemone 57
2. _Alyconium digitatum_ The Many-fingered Alyconium 61
3. _Echinus sphæra_ The Common Sea-Egg 103
4. _Cucumis hyalinus_ The Glassy Sea-Cucumber 89
PLATE X.
1. A group of _Serpula
contortuplicata_ The Twisted Serpula 87
2. _Actinia crassicornis_ The Thick-horned Sea-Anemone 57
PLATE XI.
A Design for a Plainly-mounted Aquarium 34
PLATE XII.
A Design for an Aquarium mounted in handsome Rustic-work 34
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OCEAN GARDENS;
OR,
GLIMPSES BENEATH THE WATERS.
――◀▶――
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.
What the vast majority of our migratory flocks of summer and autumnal
idlers generally do and think at the sea-side, cannot be better
exemplified than by reference to the clever sketches which are found
occupying entire pages of our illustrated periodicals and newspapers,
during the season of marine migration. But the habits and customs of the
annual shoal of visitors to our watering-places, may be still more
intimately comprehended through the medium of the sprightly essays which
generally accompany those truly artistic delineations.
And is there really nothing better to do—no better _regime_ to go
through, than the daily repetition of the monotonous programme of
entertainment thus playfully described and ridiculed?
Surely the visitor at the sea-side is in reach of something more
pleasant and profitable than such a routine!
Do not the sublime aspects of the ocean—the sound of its deep, ceaseless
voice—the eternal on-coming of its waves, now in calm undulations, and
now in hurtling wildness against the base of those cliffs whose white
brows are wreathed with perennial flowers—suggest other matters both for
reflection and amusement? Surely the very whispering of the breeze that
has travelled so far over that vast moving surface of the fathomless
deep, and which seems muttering of its mysteries, while laden with its
sweet saline odour—“_ce parfum acre de la mer_,” as Dumas has termed
it—might lead us towards other and higher trains of thought. Surely
those voices in the wind, mingling with the strange murmur of the waves
as they break in cadenced regularity upon the shore, rouse, in the
feelings of those who hear them for the first time, or after a long
absence, strange sensations of admiration, and curiosity, and wonder.
But no; to most of the idle crowd those sights and sounds are invisible
and unheard. Their ears have not been tutored to understand the
word-music of Nature’s language, nor to read the brightly-written signs
on its mighty page.
To appreciate Nature, as well as Art, the mind requires a special
education, without which the eye and the ear perceive but little of the
miracles passing before them. To the eye of the common observer, the
farthest field in the landscape is as green as the nearest, in the scene
outspread before him; while to the practised glance of the accomplished
artist, every yard of distance lends its new tone of colour to the tints
of the herbage, till, through a thousand delicate gradations, the
brightest verdure at last mingles with the atmospheric hue, and is
eventually lost in the pervading azure. If, then, the ordinary aspects
of Nature may not be fully interpreted by the untutored eye, how should
her more hidden mysteries be felt or understood, or even guessed at?
And, in fact, they are not, or the visitor to the sea-side, looking over
that wide tremulous expanse of water that covers so many mysteries,
would feel, like the child taken for the first time within the walls of
a theatre, an intense anxiety to raise the dark-green curtain which
conceals the scene of fairy wonders he is greedily longing to behold and
enjoy. But the lounger at the sea-side does not guess at the wonders
concealed by the dark-green curtain of the ocean, and, consequently,
never dreams of wishing to peep beneath its waving folds, to gratify a
curiosity which, in fact, does not exist.
When, however, the language of Nature is learnt, and her voice is no
longer a confused murmur to the ear, but becomes a brilliant series of
eloquent words, full of deep and exquisite meaning, then the student
will _see_ as well as _hear_; but till then, in his intercourse with
Nature, he is both deaf and blind. “Speak,” said Socrates to a youth;
“say something, that I may _see_ you.” Socrates saw not a silent man;
and those who do not hear and understand Nature’s language, cannot see
her wondrous beauty.
The mill-like repetition of worldly affairs brings on a torpor of mind,
in regard to all without the narrow circle of selfish interests and
easily purchased pleasures, which it is very difficult to wake up from.
But I would warn the suffering victims of that baneful, though secret,
presence; for when the consciousness of its existence is aroused, the
first step will have been taken towards its eradication.
I would remind all those suffering from inactivity of mind, of the
wholesome dread of that kind of mental torpor entertained by the
Gymnosophists; who, as Apuleus tells us, when they met at meals,
required that each should be able to narrate the particulars of some
discovery, or original thought, or good action, or it was deemed that he
did not exhibit a sufficient reason for being allowed to consume a share
of the viands, and he was consequently excluded from the repast. Were
each of our most idle sea-side loungers to impose upon himself the
necessity of a discovery, or an original thought, before he considered
himself entitled to dine, that torpor, so deadening to the natural
capacities of his mind, would soon give way to a state of mental
activity, which, were it only from the brightness of the contrast, would
be found highly agreeable, to say nothing of its advantages, or of the
elevating and refining trains of thought to which it would necessarily
give rise.
I know of nothing more likely to stimulate the mind to healthy exertion,
and take it out of the immediate track of common interests and
pleasures, the monotony of which is so oppressive, than the study of
natural history in some of its least explored fields, especially its
extraordinary development in connection with the waters of the ocean.
And yet, how few there are who seek that charming mode of dissipating
the dreary monotony of social life, such as it is made by the routine of
fashion or habit! A popular love of natural history, even in its best
known divisions, is, in fact, of quite recent growth. Indeed, the very
existence of such a science has been, till recently, altogether ignored
by our great national seats of learning. The earnest investigators, who
have done so much to lay bare its wonders, were either openly ridiculed,
or treated with but small respect—as useless dreamers upon very small
and insignificant matters. The very names of such true labourers in the
mine of science as our glorious old naturalist Ray, or his follower
Pulteney, or the indefatigable Ellis, the first detector of the true
nature of Zoöphytes, who measured pens with the giant Linnæus, received
no academic honour; and those of their undiscouraged successors have
been rarely heard, either in our universities or among our general
public, till the vast discoveries of geology and other allied branches
of science, in our own times, have at last aroused attention to their
importance.
Any popular knowledge of that branch of natural history which especially
concerns our seas and shores, is indeed of still more recent date. The
subject, in fact, is but even now beginning to develop itself beneath
the pens of an enterprising band of marine naturalists, with such
leaders as Johnston, Harvey, John Edward Gray, the indefatigable Gosse,
and the revered shade of the lamented Forbes at their head.
A truly popular knowledge even of those more accessible regions of our
woods and fields, is but little more ancient; for, till Gilbert White
had made the story of such knowledge as attractive as romance, in his
“Natural History of Selborne,” few guessed what an arena of ever new
interests and discoveries it presented.
Through the fascinating interpretation of the good Gilbert, many now
understand the attraction of those branches of natural history which he
so curiously investigated; but few are willing to admit that it is as
easy to make the natural features of some obscure fishing-village, with
no herbage on its bare rocks, and no bush, no blade of grass, no bird to
be seen or heard, equally interesting; yet I can assure them, that by
lifting even the mere border of that green curtain of the ocean, or by
awaiting its unveilings, as the retiring tide bears back its folds, a
host of wonders will be revealed, sufficient to rouse the most torpid
mind of the most inactive idler to their earnest and deeply-inquiring
contemplation, and arouse him to their devout admiration, as among the
most exquisite miracles of that creative and sustaining Power which is
the source of their existence.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------