Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/414

406 Aquarium. As we approach, before passing into the dim light of the Aquarium, it is well to linger for a moment in the park, and gaze upon the wonderful scene spread out before our eyes—the commodious harbor, alive with the craft of all nations, the hills of Staten Island and the Narrows beyond.

Its circular fort form is admirably adapted to its present use, as the plans and illustrations show, and but few changes were necessary to make it available. Upon entering, the visitor's attention is attracted to the seven great pools on the floor. A second glance reveals the wall tanks, arranged in two tiers. These have glass fronts, and, at a

distance, look like beautiful pictures in great frames. They are lighted from behind and above, and the spaces immediately in front of the main and gallery tiers are thrown into deep shade by the gallery floor and the ceiling. The light coming through the tanks being the only source of illumination, the colors and markings of the fishes are brilliantly displayed to the spectator, who might easily imagine himself wandering in some submarine gallery.

In the great central pool there is, ordinarily, a collection of sharks and the common fishes of the coast, but when a whale or other large specimen is secured it occupies this place of honor. The three pools