The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective

Philip F. Rehbock

It is at once an ornament, a toy, a cabinet, a menagerie, a Jardin des plantes, a Botanico• Zoological picture, in which every colour has life; in short 'a thing of beauty and a joy forever. ' Shirley Hibberd, 1856b

1 Introduction

Victorian culture acquired a new ornament from nature in the 1850s. Both fresh and salt-water aquaria suddenly became frequent appurtenances in better British homes, and numerous popular books appeared on their construction, stocking, maintenance and philosophy. Since then aquarium animals have become common pets in the households of nearly every social class; public aquaria have burgeoned throughout the world; and marine biological stations have conducted research in all manner of artificial aquatic environments. What touched off the aquarium craze? In particular, what can the aquarium literature of this period tell us about the mid-Victorian naturalist's awareness and application of ecological principles? Albert Klee (1967-69) pointed out brief• ly the British origins of the aquarium, and then chronicled the aquarium "growth industry" in America from the late 19th century to the present. Elsewhere there are accounts of the first aquaria (Atz 1949, Hibberd 1856b, ch. 1), but none more detailed than that of Klee, and none which addresses specifically the social and ecological issues. Moreover, D. E. Allen (1976) has cited the topic as ripe for investigation.

2 The Proto-aquarists

The practice of preserving aquatic animals, in indoor containers as well as garden ponds, dates to Antiquity. Goldfish were domesticated by the Chinese as much as a thousand years ago, long before their introduction to the West toward the M. Sears et al. (eds.), Oceanography: The Past © Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 1980 The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 523 end of the 17th century (Hervey and Hems 1968, pp. 76-80). Even earlier, the Romans kept ftsh in ponds for ornament, entertainment and food, a habit prob· ably also acquired from the Chinese (ibid., pp. 19-22, Cheever 1861). Occasional references to indoor ftsh·keeping can be found in British writings of the 16th· 18th centuries (Arderon 1746, Pepys 1970-74, 6,p.ll1, White 1876, l,p. 262, Atz 1949). But the transition from ftsh·bowl to aquarium, a major shift in phi. losophy and practice, seems to have occurred in the middle decades of the 19th century.

The great difference between a fish-globe and an Aquarium is, that in the one, we keep fish only, whilst, in the other we cultivate many beautiful and wonderful plants and animals which would not flourish if we changed the water often.

It should be remembered, when it is found necessary to aerate the water, that we do not possess an Aquarium: which is a collection of plants and animals that is self-supporting, self-renovating-that requires only the feeding of the inhabitants and the watching for accidents (Edwards 1858, p. 20, 90).

Thus the true aquarium, in the 19th century, remains in a healthy state for months or even years, without requiring any renewal of the fresh or salt·water medium. This had evidently been a mystery to the earlier ftsh-bowl·keeping natu· ralists ("proto-aquarists"). The ftrst to attempt deliberately the establishment of a self·sustaining aquari· urn ecosystem, by balancing the activities of captive ftsh with those of aquatic plants, is controversial. Germany, France, and Britain might all claim precedence in the creation of the "balanced aquarium."l LedermUller (1719-1769) appar· ently set up vessels containing plants and animals in relatively stable combi· nations for study about 1760 (Ledermtiller 1761, PIs. 67, 87, Bout 1886, p. 33). His intent is open to question, however, as he must have been aware of the gas exchange relations existing between the plants, the animals and the atmosphere. These relations of respiration and photosynthesis were given their currently accepted chemical interpretation as the result of investigations by Priestly, Lavoisier, Ingen·Housz, Senebier, DeSaussure, Boussingault and others during the late 18th and early 19th centuries (see Nash 1952). In France Charles DesMoulins' (1798.1876) earliest aquarium occupants, pIa· narians (flatworms), required regular renewal of the water. Once when neglected for a week, a considerable amount of algae ("confervae") developed. He then changed the water but left the algae behind to nourish the planarians. In a few weeks time the algae disappeared, leaving'the water clearer than ever. This sug· gested that plants were able to purify the water. In his next aquarium, for study· ing freshwater snails, he included two types of floating plants: lBut see Atz (1949), Innes (1950) and Jacobs (1956) among others for corrections to this misnomer. 524 P. F. Rehbock La temperature etait elevee pour la saison, et l'eau recueillie depuis plus de 24 heures, etait fort sale et deja sensiblement puante. Mon etonnement fut grand, lorsque Ie lendemain, je trouvai toute l'eau du bocal pure et transpar• ente comme du cristal, et absolument sans odeur. Je resolus de ne plus changer l'eau du tout, cette experience m'a parfaitement reussi (DesMoulins 1830, p.260).

Judging from his limited concluding remarks he did not yet comprehend all of the chemical exchanges taking place:

L'experience que je viens de relater nous conduit a une remarque generaie et bien importante: sans les plantes flottantes que la bonte de la divine Pro• vidence a repandues avec tant de profusion sur les eaux stagnantes, les habi• tans des con trees marecageuses periraient devores par les fievres epidemiques. Mais Ie carbone degage par la decomposition des tissus organiques est ab• sorbe par ces vegetaux aquatiques, employe a leur nutrition, et ils fournis• sent en echange une exhalation abondante d'air respirable et salubre (DesMoulins 1830, pp. 260-261).

DesMoulins recognized the primitive state of his experiments and called upon other naturalists to extend them. To that end, he gave instructions for purchas• ing and setting up glass containers in the home. But beyond the initial announce• ment of his success, DesMoulins seems to have published nothing. The only indi• cation of recognition by his countrymen was in the attempt by the protozoolo• gist, Felix Dujardin (1801-1860) to adapt DesMoulins' arrangement to salt-water organisms. Dujardin's moderate success in establishing a self-sustaining marine aquarium in 1838 (Bout 1886) along with DesMoulins' earlier fresh-water achieve• ment, stimulated a later French writer to proclaim that, with these events "L'aquarium, dans Ie sens exact du mot, etait enfm definitivement invente" (ibid., p. 34). But their "invention" went unnoticed by naturalists elsewhere. It was in Britain that the aquarium fust became a widely known instrument of science and entertainment, without reference to French or German predeces• sors. The rise of the self-supporting aquarium in that country was the result of the activities of marine naturalists, horticulturists, and chemists.

The Marine Naturalists

In the early 19th century, Scot1a~d tolerated a few eccentric souls who main• tained vessels of salt-water for the study of local marine and estuarine species. The most famous was Sir John Graham Dalyell (1775-1851), 6th baronet of Binns, an Edinburgh barrister. The author of numerous works on the history and antiquities of Scotland, Dalyell nevertheless devoted much of his time to meticulous studies of marine invertebrates (Dalyell 184748, 1851-58). Accord• ing to a posthumous account by his sister (Newman 1973, pp. 3757-3758), Dalyell maintained marine animals in cylindrical glass vessels of various sizes, The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 525 possibly as early as 1790. Generally each vessel held a single animal; no plants were included, nor was the water aerated by any other means. Hence Dalyell found it necessary to change the water once or twice a day. A porter brought several gallons of sea water in an earthenware jar two or three times per week, enabling Dalyell to keep many of his specimens alive for eight to ten years or more. One particular anemone, nicknamed "Granny," survived from the time of its collection in 1828, until 1887, long out-living Sir John and several others to whom it was passed on (Daly ell 184748,2, p. 203, Thompson 1940, pp. 224- 226). Salt-water vessels also adorned "the attic" flat of Edward Forbes (1815- 1854) and his fellow medical students, John (1814-1867) and Harry (1816?- 1847) Goodsir, and George E. Day (1815-1872), at the University of Edinburgh in the 1830s. Presumably they too had fresh sea-water brought up regularly from the Firth of Forth. Marine invertebrates were thus maintained in a healthy state for study and later dissection, to the amazement of numerous visitors, including the Swiss naturalist Louis Agassiz (Lonsdale 1868,1,97-104). Forbes' associate, Dr. George Johnston (1797-1855), author of important works on British zoophytes, sponges and other groups, arranged a vessel for marine invertebrates in his Berwickshire home about 1842. Corallines and sea• lettuce were included along with mollusks, annelids and a starfish-a combi• nation which sustained itself for two months, but an exceptional case, not repro• ducible nor worthy of wide publicity (Johnston 1842). And finally, in England, Mrs. Anne Thynne (dates unknown), a devotee of geology, became fascinated by stony corals (Madreporia), during a trip to Devon• shire in 1846. Determined to continue her observations in London, she trans• ported specimens in glass jars of sea-water. A maid aerated the water daily by pouring it back and forth in front of an open window. The following year Mrs. Thynne added sea-weeds to her aquarium bowls, but the aeration chore was con• tinued for fear that the proper "balance" might not have been achieved (as she later wrote). These precautions were not unrewarded: the madrepores and other organisms survived and multiplied in London for a period of three years (Thynne 1859, Lankester 1856, p. 10). Whether or not these fir~t attempts can be regarded as self-sustaining aquaria, the fact remains that little attention was paid to them until years later. News of the successes of Thynne and Johnston, in particular, seems not to have passed beyond their personal friends. This is anomalous in view of the increased at• tention paid to marine biology by British naturalists in the 1830s and 40s. For example, the British Association for the Advancement of Science sponsored a Dredging Committee during the period 1839-1850, for the acquisition of know• ledge about the marine invertebrate fauna of the British coasts. And although this committee (of which both Forbes and Johnston were members) made hauls and filled collections nearly every summer (Rehbock 1979), there is no evidence that they made any attempt to keep their organisms alive. 526 P. F. Rehbock The Horticultural Stimulus

The inception of the Victorian aquarium owes as much to the development of the terrarium, as to the activities of marine naturalists. The terrarium ("vivari• um") was the special fancy of Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (1791-1868). Botanist, physician, and socially prominent member of London scientific society, Ward was preoccupied by the desire to grow all manner of local and exotic vegetation, especially ferns and mosses, in his gardens at Wellclose Square (Anon. 1870). However, London's sooty air was injurious to many plants, necessitating that fresh specimens be brought periodically from the countryside. About 1829 a serendipitous event occurred which was to bring on a small revolution in horti• cultural practices. Ward had placed a moth chrysalis and some mold in a covered jar, and quite unexpectedly a fern and some moss arose from the surface of the mold, growing well without the least attention. Ward then began experiments to determine the range of plant species which could survive in covered containers ("closely glazed cases"). Covering (but not sealing) the containers had the bene• ficial effects of keeping in moisture, reducing the level of London air pollutants, and limiting temperature fluctuations. In addition to facilitating the culture of many species previously unsuccessful in urban environments, and making "gar• dens" possible in the homes of the unlanded classes, the Wardian device became important in transporting live plants on long voyages (Ellis 1839, Ward 1852). Ward did not announce his success in growing plants under glass to a scientific audience until the British Association meeting of 1837 (although a letter to William Hooker describing the method was published the year before [Ward 1836]). Interestingly, Ward hinted at the possibility that animal life might be promoted "upon the same principles. lam quite certain that a great number of animals would live and thrive under the treatment" (Ward 1837, p. 505). There is no indication, however, that Ward had aquatic animals or plants in mind.ln• deed, Ward's understanding of the physiological processes relevant to his inno• vation was minimal in 1837.

The Chemical Input

Ward's (1837) report to the British Association was one of several on the subject of closely glazed cases at that meeting. The Association had established a com• mittee in 1836 to perform experiments on plants grown under glass, and had re• quested that Charles Daubeny (1795-1867), Oxford's professor of chemistry and botany, look into the chemical aspects. Daubeny's research career had been built upon the application of chemical theory to geological and botanical questions, including experiments on the influences of soil and light conditions on plant growth in the early 1830s (Daubeny 1834, 1836, 1837a). But a brief report of data without conclusions, hurriedly submitted to the Association in 1837 just before his departure on a tour of America, was Daubeny'S only contribution. More thorough was the independent study by Daniel Ellis (1772-1841), pre• sented to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh in 1839. The little-known Ellis The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 527 (an army surgeon, Glasgow M.D.) had published two books on plant physiology (1807, 1811); hence, in taking up the ecology of closely glazed cases he was re• turning to a familiar theme. Ellis discussed, in succession, the factors of humidi• ty, heat, light and air as they related to plants in "close cases," and in "free atmo• sphere." He thus corrected Ward's interpretation of the chemical principles active in closely glazed cases, i.e., the only change in the contained air was one of expansion and contraction due to daily heating. This change of air, a kind of circulation with the outer atmosphere, Ward regarded as essential to the plants; hence, the necessity that the case not be hermetically sealed. Ellis insisted, on the contrary, that there were two distinctly different processes' ''the first, or deteriorating, process, in which oxygen gas is consumed," i.e., respiration; and "the second, or purifying, process, in which oxygen gas is evolved," i.e., photo• synthesis. Because these processes "mutually counterbalance each other;' there should be "no difficulty in comprehending how the same identical volume of air in the plant cases ofMr. Ward should, for so long a period, serve the purposes of vegetation, without becoming foul from within, or receiving or requiring re• newal from without" (Ellis 1839, 501-502). Essentially, it was just a larger version of the experimental apparatus used by DeSaussure 35 years earlier, as Ellis was well aware. Thus, while Ward may be credited with instigating the use of the closely glazed case among horticulturists, the explanation of its successful operation was provided by the chemists, mainly Ellis. Ward then made tests to see if the self• sustaining principle of his vivaria might also be applicable to aquaria (hence, the term "aqua-vivaria," in use through the 1850s). In 1841, "gold and silver fish" and several species of fresh-water plants were placed in a "large earthen vessel" of twenty gallons (Ward 1852, p. 57). Ward later referred to the chemical equi• librium between plants and animals as though such knowledge were almost second nature: the "plants, by means of their vital actions, as had long been well known, maintained the purity of the water, and, as in the atmosphere, kept up the balance between the animal and vegetable respirations" (ibid., p. 58). Yet there is no evidence to suggest that Ward himself was aware of the chemical principles involved until they were explained by Ellis. Even then, though Ward drew particular attention (in the 1842 preface to his book) to the "admirable paper written by the late Mr. Ellis," he ignored Ellis' discussion of "noxious gases" in and out of the container. Ward's contribution to the realization of the self-sustaining aquarium remains enigmatic. He claimed, and his son reiterated (Ward 1854), that he had consci• ously attempted to balance the vital activities of fresh-water fish and plants in 1841 or 1842. But no mention of the attempt appeared in print until 1852, by which time other published experiments h~d clearly substantiated the viability of aquaria. Considering Ward's prominence socially (if not scientifically) among London naturalists, it is quite possible that the aquarium idea gained some cir• culation during the 1840s. It is curious that the relevant chemical theory should have been available for so long before being applied to aquaria. Surely by 1804, when DeSaussure syn• thesized the line of research on photosynthesis dating back to Priestley, know- 528 P. F. Rehbock ledge of the chemical exchanges among plants, animals, and their environment should have been adequate for anyone seeking the recipe for a successful aquari• um. Moreover, the appropriate theory had been applied in an aquatic context in an English work by 1820. The London chemist, William T. Brande (1788-1866), Humphrey Davy's successor as professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution, discussed the gas exchange occurring between aquatic plans and animals. But in spite of Brande's (1819) clear conception of the beneficial effects of culturing plants along with fishes, no mention of this advice appears in the aquarium literature until the 1850s. The most plausible causes for this 40-year hiatus, between the end of the PriestleY-DeSaussure research and its application to aquaria, would appear to be (1) that the PriestleY-DeSaussure theory was not yet fully accepted, even by chemists in the 1840s (Shenstone 1895, p. 89); and (2) that knowledge was already isolated within scientific specialties. Those scientists most interested in establishing permanent marine or freshwater systems for research purposes tended to be naturalists. Their training focused on the taxonomic and anatomic aspects of zoology and botany, as had been the case since the 17th century. By comparison, the chemical and physiological facets were of recent creation, primarily by Continental chemists, not British naturalists. This oblivion to "animal and vegetable chemistry" in Britain was altered in the early 1840s by several events. Justus von Liebig's "Organic Chemistry in Its Applications to Agriculture and Physiology" was published (in German, French and English editions) in 1840. Liebig (1803-1873) provided new support for the principles of plant physiology of the Priestley-DeSaussure paradigm. More impor• tantly, he argued that future progress in natural history would hinge upon the at• tention given to chemistry by botanists. These ideas flowed more freely among botanists, horticulturists and practical men than had the writings of earlier chem• ists, because, as his title indicated, Liebig wished to demonstrate their "Appli• cations to Agriculture." Moreover, the book and its ideas had an able British pro• moter in the person of Lyon Playfair. Two years later Liebig produced the companion work, "Animal Chemistry or Organic Chemistry in its Applications to PhYSiology and Pathology," completing his analysis of the cycles between plant and animal kingdoms. Both publications received further pUblicity by Liebig's participation in the Glasgow and Man• chester meetings of the British Association in 1840 and 1842. In Paris, Jean Baptiste Andre Dumas (1800-1884) had also turned from inor• ganic to physiological chemistry in the late 1830s. His widely circulated essay, "On the Chemical Statics of Organized Beings" (1841) and subsequent book with J. B. Boussingault, "The Chemical and Physiological Balance of Organic Nature" (1842), concisely organized the principles of animal and vegetable chem• istry which Liebig had separated into two detailed volumes. Dumas placed great emphasis on the opposing, mutually-serving chemical interactions of the two organic kingdoms, epitomized in the "Programme of the Discourse" with which he opened the book (Dumas and Boussingault 1844, p. xiii): The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 529 An Animal A Vegetable is is An Apparatus of An Apparatus of Combustion; Reduction; Possesses the faculty of Is fixed; Locomotion; Burns Carbon Reduces Carbon Hydrogen Hydrogen Ammonium; Ammonium; Exhales Carbonic Acid Fixes Carbonic Acid Water Water Oxide of Ammonium Oxide of Ammonium Azote; Azote; Consumes Oxygen Produces Oxygen Neutral azotized Neutral azotized matters matters Fatty matters Fatty matters Amylaceous matters, Amylaceous matters, sugars, gums; sugars, gums; Produces Heat Absorbs heat; Electricity; Abstracts electricity; Restores its elements to the Derives its elements from the air or to the earth; air or from the earth; Transforms organized matters Transforms mineral matters into mineral matters. into organic matters.

According to Dumas, therefore, the animal and vegetable kingdoms stood as polar opposites. The "balance" of their precisely complementary activities was the foundation of sustained life on the surface of the earth. However over-simplified this dichotomization of nature might have been (see Goodman 1972), the writings of Liebig, Dumas and others stimulated con• siderable interest in the new physiological chemistry, in Britain as elsewhere (Holmes 1963). Disagreements over the chemical details reopened the long• standing rivalry between Liebig and Dumas (drawing further public attention to the subject); but among naturalists the simply comprehended fact of the chemi• cal "balance of nature" must have been powerful indeed. This chemical conception of nature of the 1840s was a crucial element of the intellectual climate that spawned the sudden interest in aquaria. If the "circle of organic life at the surface of the globe" depends upon the vegetable kingdom-"that great laboratory of organic life" (Dumas 1841, pp. 339-340)• and if such "laboratories" could be successfully established in the isolation of closely glazed cases, then could not the same "circle of organic life" be achieved in an aquatic medium? The notion of a "balanced aquarium," a phase first ap• pearing in British writings at the end of the decade, derives, I believe, from the peculiar conception of a balanced dualism in nature, then current in the infant science of physiological chemistry. 530 P.F. Rehbock 3 The Final Consummation

By the end of the 1840s the aquarium movement began to gather momentum in two directions: toward the publication of experimental studies and popular hand• books; and the establishment of public aquaria. The seminal publications were those of Robert S. Warington and Philip Henry Gosse. Warington, moreover, fmally brought the aspirations of the marine naturalists into clear contact with the new physiological chemistry. Robert Warington (1807-1867) pursued a career in practical chemistry in London, and from 1842 until 1866 was chemical operator of the Society of Apothecaries. During this period, on a cue from Brande's "Manual of Chemistry" (Warington 1857, p. 404), he carried out a lengthy series of systematic investi• gations into aquarium operation which were to be regarded by subsequent writers as establishing the scientific foundation of the "balanced aquarium" philosophy. Whereas the intent of the naturalists, from Dalyell and DesMoulins to Ward, Johnston and Thynne, had been to create a means of observing or enjoy• ing aquatic species in an artificial setting some distances from their natural envi• ronment, Warington's goal was to understand the principles of aquarium vitality. He began in 1849, placing gold-fish, Vallisneria (tape-grass), sand, mud and stones in a 12-gallon receiver of fresh water. He soon found that the normal decay of the Vallisneria leaves resulted in turbid water and algal accumulation. This mo• mentary set-back was alleviated, however, by the addition of pond snails (Lym• naea) which "restored the whole to a healthy state, thus perfecting the balance between the animal and vegetable inhabitants, and enabling both to perform their vital functions with health and energy" (Warington 1851, p. 53). (The scavenging capacity of these mollusks, though possibly original with Warington in aquaria, had nevertheless been pointed out by naturalists much earlier [Jeffreys 1830, p. 371, Ward 1854, p. 412]). Warington's experiments demonstrated "in a liquid element" that "admirable balance sustained between the animal and vegetable kingdoms which Dumas had proclaimed.

The fish, in its respiration, consumes the oxygen held in solution by the water as atmospheric air, furnishes carbonic acid; feeds on the insects and young snails; and excretes material well adapted as a rich food to the plant, and well fitted for its luxuriant growth. The plant, by its respiration [i.e., photosynthesis] , consumes the carbonic acid produced by the fish, appropriating the carbon to the construction of its tissues and fibre, and liberates the oxygen in its gaseous state to sustain the healthy functions of the animal life, at the same time that it feeds on the re• jected matter, which has fulfilled its purposes in the nourishment of the fish and snail, and preserves the water constantly in a clear and healthy condition, -while the slimy snail, finding its proper nutriment in the decomposing vege• table matter and minute confervoid growth, prevents their accumulation by removing them from the field, and, by its vital powers, converts what would otherwise act as poison, into a rich and fruitful nutriment, again to constitute The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 531 a pabulum for the vegetable growth, while it also acts the important part of a purveyor to its finny neighbors (Warington 1851, p. 54).

The popularizer, Shirley Hibberd, described Warington's achievement in words anticipating later ecological terminology: "The three tenants of the globe main• tained each other as in any well-ordered human community" (Hibberd 1856, p. 8, italics mine). Over the next several years Warington tried to improve his equilibria con• ditions by substituting other species of fish, plants and mollusks (Warington 1852). The water did not require changing for a period of four years. In 1852 he then turned from fresh-water to try his luck with sea-water. Various sea-weeds, accompanied by periwinkles, were placed in a tank of sea-water from the English Channel supplied by an oyster boat from the Billingsgate fish-market (Warington 1853). He also modified the aquarium container: the receiver was replaced by a "shallow earthen pan," and that by a rectangular tank having slate or tinted-glass sides, back and bottom, with clear glass on only the front, viewing side. This design prevented excessive algal growth by ensuring that direct sunlight entered the water only from the surface (Warington 1854). With the salt-water system viable Warington then tried to vary the inhabitants. The acquisition of healthy marine specimens in London was a problem until the naturalist-traveler Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888) came to his rescue. Gosse, the author of numerous popular and pious books on natural history, had taken to the Devonshire coast for reasons of health, and there began collecting and dredging for marine organisms. In 1852 he had begun his own aquaria (Gosse 1852, 1853, pp. 228-234,439441), and by 1854 had produced the first book to be devoted to the subject. From Gosse, Warington acquired the bulk of his marine materials. This union of field naturalist and London chemist was the crucial liaison in the evolution of the aquarium. Before 1852 the aquarium was typically a cylindrical glass jar con• taining a few fish or an invertebrate, in the possession of a few naturalists who regarded it as too insignificant to write about; it was nothing more than a new type of "cabinet" where a favorite species might be kept for observation. After 1852, the aquarium became an environment for an aquatic community. It also became a hobby for wealthy British families, an industry and a public amusement. An industry? Both hobbiest and naturalist soon came to depend on a new breed of merchant/su~plier for their aquarium needs. Gosse had been delighted with the dredging serVices rendered in Weymouth by a fisherman, Jonah Fowler, "a clever fellow" who boasted "with delight of the feats he has achieved in the dredging line for Mr. Bowerbank, Mr. [Sylvanus] Hanley, and Professor [Edward] Forbes" (Gosse 1854, p. 58). Dredging services and equipment were also avail• able in Weymouth from the conchologist Robert Damon (1814-1889) (Woodward 1851-56, pp. 428430). The Weymouth naturalist William Thompson, a supplier for that locale, impressed Gosse that "no one is better fitted to supply what is most suitable for either public or private Aquaria, on reasonable terms" (Gosse 1854, p. 266). Thompson also sent specimens to London for the Zoological 532 P. F. Rehbock Society (Hibberd 1856b, p. 38), but soon the ir..dustry had representatives with• in the city. By 1855 at least two dealers had set up respectable shops: Thomas Hall, "dealer in Marine and Fresh-water Stock, of Fountain Place, City Road"; and W. Alford Lloyd in St. John's Street, Clerkenwell (ibid., iv, 38). Lloyd (1815-1880) might well be regarded as the first professional aquarium entrepre• neur. By 1858 his "Aquarium Warehouse" occupied two adjacent shops on Port• land Road (Fig. 1), and his illustrated catalogue "of whatever relates to Aquaria" ran to 128 pages. According to a contemporary account (West 1865, p. 499), Lloyd maintained

in fifty large tanks and innumerable smaller vessels, at least fifteen thousand specimens of salt water animals alone. Over his counter sea-water is sold by the pint, quart, or gallon as commonly as milk or London porter at other places. He has a large steam factory for the manufacture of tanks, and employs uninterruptedly fourteen persons in collecting marine objects, besides purchas• ing largely from amateur collectors.

Lloyd went on to become scientific advisor to many of the builders and adminis• trators of public aquaria, both at home and on the Continent (Lloyd 1876, Wilson 1962), a vocation he shared with the protozoologist W. Saville Kent (d. 1908), and the naturalist Henry Lee (1826-1888).

Figure 1. Lloyd's "Aquarium Warehouse" at No. 19 Portland Road, near Regent's Park. Frontispiece to W. A. Lloyd, A list with descriptions, illus• trations and prices of whatever relates to aquaria. London, 1858. The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 533 The public aquarium concept originated among Ward's circle. Sometime after 1841 the London distiller James Scott Bowerbank (1797-1877), a paleontologist and close friend of Ward, tried his hand with a jar of fresh-water organisms (Ward 1852, p. 58). Bowerbank's interest, in turn, inspired David W. Mitchell (d. 1859), secretary of the Zoological Society, to install a ''vivarium'' for fishes at the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park. Thus arose the first public aquarium, con• structed in 1852 and opened for the entertainment of all of London's social classes in 1853 (Scherren 1905, p. 107, Vevers 1976). During the next twenty years, aquaria were established throughout the major cities of Europe. By the 1870s Britain herself boasted of nearly a dozen, in Dublin, Sydenham (at the Crystal Palace), Brighton, Westminster, Birmingham, Manchester, Yarmouth, Southport, and Scarborough. The 1870s also saw the establishment of the first marine biological station at Naples. The goal of the early aquarists had been to establish an aquatic system in which the organisms could be left entirely alone, except for feeding. Inevitably the number of fish that seemed aesthetically desirable in a given tank often were more than could be "balanced" by the plants. Various aeration and filtration devices accordingly appeared. Typically a reservoir of water was placed some dis• tance above the aquarium; the water was then allowed to drip in at a controlled rate, in some cases passing through sponge, charcoal 'or sand (Gosse 1854, pp. 271-273, Hibberd 1856b, p. 78, Anon. 1873). More elaborate systems (Fig. 2) directed the water down into the tank and up again, to emerge from a central fountain (see also Klee 1967-69, pt. 2, p. 45). "After reading the book of Mr. Gosse," one writer reflected, "all the world wanted to possess an aquarium to verify his assertions and repeat his experi• ments" (Bout 1886, p. 35). Perhaps it was the success of Gosse's work that led to the plethora of books and articles relating to the aquarium in the 1850s. To mention only books, contributions to the genre came not only from naturalists (Lankester 1856, Sowerby 1857, Jones 1959); but also from science popularizers (Hibberd 1856a, 1856b, Leach 1856, Merton 1856, Wood 1857, Humphreys 1857, Harper 1858); and from literati (Lewes 1858, Kingsley 1855). Unquestionably, there were events beyond the realm of science which con• tributed in large measure to the phenomenal fashion of aquaria in the 1850s. Foremost among these was the expansion of the British railway system, especi• ally in the 1840s. A far larger portion of the population was afforded the pleasure of a sea-side vacation than ever before (hence, the success of popular books on the sea-shore in this period); and the transport of sea-water and marine specimens inland became far more practicable. Secondly, both the closely glazed case and the aquarium tank benefitted substantially from the abolition of the heavy tax on glass in 1845 (Allen 1976, p. 137). Moreover, the 1850s were years of pros• perity and confidence, with an expanding middle class in search of education and edifying leisure activities of modest cost-the "Age of Equipoise," as it has been called (Burn 1964). Aquarium promoters were soon to be seen outside Britain. The malacologist E. A. Rossmassler (1806-1867) was the first to publicize the hobby in Germany. 534 P. F. Rehbock

Figure 2. "Aquarium containing an easily arranged fountain." Note reservoir atop bookcase, connected by tubing to fountain, and overflow vessel beneath table. From G. C. Bateman, Fresh-water aquaria. London, 1890, p. 51.

His "Das Susswasser-Aquarium" (1857) had reached four editions by 1880. American works had begun to appear by 1858 (Edwards 1858, Butler 1858). By 1860 the aquarium fashion had lost its momentum in England. Hibberd acknowledged the waning of the fever, but felt that the decline had its brighter side:

The 'aquarium mania' may be considered as fairly dead: it died out proper• ly and completely; but the aquarium remains, and every earnest student of botany and zoology will prize it as a triumph of art acting as the handmaid of The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 535 science. We rarely hear of 'aquarians in trouble' now-a-days, because the thousands who set up aquaria, without the least idea that to be successful they must be managed on philosophical principles, have long ago given them up as 'troublesome' (Hibberd 1860, p. 73).

In America aquarium-keeping was still on the upswing. An 1864 government report announced that "aquaria are now quite common in the large cities of the north and east, and the taste for them is on the increase" (West 1865, p. 449). As the public aquarium at Regent's Park had drawn the fancy of England to the invention, so P. T. Barnum's introduction of aquaria at the American Museum in New York in 1856 demonstrated their beauties to Americans. Barnum even financed expeditions to the Caribbean for tropical fish. The latter innovation, as developed by German entrepreneurs at the turn of the century, inaugurated a new phase of aquarium history.

Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the very able bibliographical sleuthing of Ms. Kathryn Creely, whose enthusiasm for this project helped to get it underway, and the Honors Program of the University of Hawaii for making Ms. Creely's services available to me. I would also like to thank Charles J. Deluca, Curator of the Waikiki Aquarium, for his generous assistance, and Dean E. Alison Kay for her comments on a previous draft.

References

Allen, D. E. 1976. The naturalist in Britain. A social history. Allen Lane, London, xii + 292 pp. Anon. 1868. [Obituary-Robert Warington]. Proc. R. Soc. Lond., 16, xlix-I. Anon. 1870. [Obituary-No B. Ward]. Proc. R. Soc. Lond., 18, ii-iv. Anon. 1873. A marine aquarium for inland students. Nature, 10, 260-261. Anon. 1949. Rossmaessler the pioneer. Aquarium, Phila., 18,218-219. Arderon, W. 1746. A letter from Mr. Wm. Arderon, F.R.S. to Mr. Baker, F.R.S. on keeping of small fish in glass jars: and on an easy method of catching fish. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., 44, 23-27. Atz, J. W. 1949. The balanced aquarium myth. Nat. Hist., 58, 72-77, 96. Bout, H. 1886. Notes pour servir a l'histoire des aquariums. Terre et la vie, Bull., Soc. Acclim., 3, 30-44. Brande, W. T. 1819. A Manual of chemistry. J. Murray, London, xlvii + 652 pp. Burn, W. L. 1964. The age of equipoise: a study of the mid-Victorian generation. Allen & Unwin, London, 340 pp. Butler, H. D. 1858. The family aquarium; or Aqua vivarium. A 'new pleasure' for the domestic circle: being a familiar and complete instructor upon the subject of the construction, fitting-up, stocking, and maintenance of the fluvial and marine aquaria, or 'river and ocean gardens'. Dick & Fitzgerald, New York, 121 pp. Cheever, D. W. 1861. The aquarium. Atlantic Monthly, 8,322-337. Dalyell, J. G. 184748. Rare and remarkable animals of Scotland, represented from living objects: with practical observations on their nature. Van Voorst, 536 P. F. Rehbock London, Vol. I, 270 pp.;Voi. 2,324 pp. Da1yell, J. G. 1851-58. The powers of the Creator displayed in the Creation; or, observations on life amidst the various forms of the humbler tribes of ani• mated nature: with practical comments and illustrations. Van Voorst, London, Vol. I, vi + 286 pp. + 70 pI.; Vol. II, x + 359 pp. + 46 pI.; Vol. III, li + 111 pp. + 29 pI. Daubeny, C. 1834. On excretions from the roots of vegetables. Rep. Br. Ass. Advmt. Sci., pt. 2,598. Daubeny, C. 1836. On the action of light upon plants, and of plants upon the atmosphere. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., 149-176. Daubeny, C. 1837a. Memoir on the degree of selection exercised by plants, with regard to the earthly constituents presented to their absorbing surfaces. Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond., 17,253-266. Daubeny, C. 1837b. On the growth of plants confined in glass vessels. Rep. Br. Ass. Advmt. Sci., pt. 1,505-508. DeSaussure, N. T. 1804. Recherches chimiques sur la vegetation. Chez la Ve. Nyon, Paris, viii + 327 pp. DesMoulins, C. 1830. Note sur les moyens d'empecher la corruption dans les bocaux ou l'on conserve des animaux aquatiques vivants. Act. Soc. Linn. Bor• deaux, 4, 257-272. Dumas, J. B. A. 1841. On the chemical statics of organized beings. Phil. Mag., 3rd ser. 19,337-347,456-469. Dumas, J. B. A. and J. B. Boussingault. 1844. The chemical and physiological balance of organic nature: an essay. 3rd ed., H. Bailliere, London, xii + 156 pp. Edwards, A. M. 1858. Life beneath the waters; or, the aquarium in America. H. Bailliere, New York, 168 pp. Ellis, D. 1807. An inquiry into the changes induced on atmospheric air, by the germination of seeds, the vegetation of plants, and the respiration of animals. W. Creech, Edinburgh, xiii + 246 pp. ElliS, D. 1811. Farther inquiries into the changes induced on atmospheric air, by the germination of seeds, the vegetation of plants, and the respiration of animals. W. Blackwood, Edinburgh, ix + 375 pp. Ellis, D. 1839. Description of a plant case, or portable conservatory, for growing plants without fresh supplies of water and air, according to the method of N. B. Ward, Esq; with physiological remarks. Gdnr's Mag., 15, 481-505. Goodman, D. C. 1972. Chemistry and the two organic kingdoms of nature in the nineteenth century. Med. Hist., 16, 113-130. Gosse, P. H. 1852. On keeping marine animals and plants alive in unchanged sea• water. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., 10,263-268. Gosse, P. H. 1853. A naturalist's rambles on the Devonshire coast. Van Voorst, London, xvi + 451 pp. Gosse, P. H. 1854. The aquarium: an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea. Van Voorst, London, xiii + 278 pp. Harper, J. 1858. The sea-side and aquarium; or, anecdote and gossip on marine zoology. W. P. Nimmo, Edinburgh, xi + 188 pp. Hervey, G. F. and Hems, J. 1968. The goldfish. Rev. ed. Faber & Faber, London, 271 pp. Hibberd, S. 1856a. The book of the aquarium and water cabinet; or, practical instructions on the formation, stocking, and management, in all seasons, of collections of fresh water and marine life. Groombridge & Sons, London, 148 pp. Hibberd, S. 1856b. Rustic adornments for homes of taste, and recreations for town folk, in the study and imitation of nature. Groombridge & Sons, London, vi + 353 pp. The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 537 Hibberd, S. 1860. Management of aquaria. Recreative Sci., 1, 73-77. Holmes, F. L. 1963. Elementary analysis and the origins of physiological chemis• try. Isis, 54, 50-81. Humphreys, H. N. 1857a. Ocean gardens: the history of the marine aquarium, and the best methods now adopted for its establishment and preservation. S. Low, London, viii + 112 pp. Humphreys, H. N. 1857b. River gardens; being an account of the best methods of cultivating fresh-water plants in aquaria, in such a manner as to afford suitable abodes to ornamental fish, and many interesting kinds of aquatic animals. S. Low, London, vii + 107 pp. Innes, W. T. 1950. The editor's letter: celebrating the centenary of the 'balanced aquarium'. Aquarium, Phila., 19, no. 1, 12-13. Jacobs, D. L. 1956. Balance in the aquarium. Aquarium, Phila., 25, no. 6, 192- 195. Jeffreys, J. G. 1830. A synopsis of the testaceous pneumonobranchous Mollusca of Great Britain. Trans. Linn. Soc., Lond., 16,323-392. Johnston, G. 1842. A history of British sponges and lithophytes. W. H. Lizars, Edinburgh, xii + 264 pp. Jones, T. R. 1858. The aquarian naturalist. A manual for the seaside. Van Voorst, London, xviii + 524 pp. Kingsley, C. 1855. Glaucus; or, The wonders of the shore. Macmillan & Co., Cam• bridge, 165 pp. Klee, A. J. 1967-69. The history of the aquarium hobby in America. Aquarium, Farmingdale, 1, no. 2 - 2, no. 11, various pagination. Lankester, E. 1856. The aquavivarium, fresh and marine; being an account of the principles and objects involved in the domestic culture of water plants and animals. R. Hardwicke, London, 71 pp. Leach, F. S. 1856. Plain instructions for the management of the aquarium, or tank for gold, and other fish, water plants, insects, etc. Dean & Son, London, 46 pp. Ledermiiller, M. F. 1761. Mikroskopische Gemuths- und Augen-Ergotzung: beste• hend, in ein Hundert nach der Natur gezeichneten und mit Farben erleuchteten Kupfertafeln, sammt deren Erkliirung. C. de Launoy, Nurnberg, 206 pp. + 100 pI. Lewes, G. H. 1858. Sea-side studies at Ilfracome, Tenby, the Scilly Isles & Jersey. W. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh/London, ix + 414 pp. Liebig, J. von. 1840. Organic chemistry in its applications to agriculture and physiology. Taylor & Walton, London, xiv + 387 pp. Liebig, J. von. 1842. Animal chemistry; or, Organic chemistry in its application to physiology and pathology. J. Owen, Cambridge, Mass., xl + 347 pp. Lloyd, W. A. 1858. A list with descriptions, illustrations, and prices of whatever relates to aquaria. Hayman Bros, printers, London, 128 pp. Lloyd, W. A. 1876. Aquaria: their past, present, and future. Am. Nat. 10,611- 621. Lonsdale, H. 1868. Biographical memoir of John Goodsir. In: The anatomical memoirs of John Goodsir, W. Turner (ed.). Adam & Charles Black, Edinburgh, 2 vols. Merton, F. S. 1856. Handbook to the aquarium ... with some observations on ... British fresh-water shells. London. Nash, L. K. 1952. Plants and the atmosphere. Harvard case histories in experi• mental science, Case 5. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, ix + 122 pp. Newman, E. 1873. Notice of official handbook to the marine aquarium of the Crystal Palace Aquarium Company, by W. A. Lloyd. Zoologist, 2nd ser. 8, 3741-3758. Pepys, S. 1970-74. The diary of Samuel Pepys. R. Latham and W. Matthews 538 P. F. Rehbock (eds.), Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley, 9 vols. Playfair, L. 1842. Abstract of Professor Liebig's report on "Organic chemistry applied to physiology and pathology." Rep. Br. Assoc. Advmt. Sci., pt. I, 42-54. Rehbock, P. F. 1979. The early dredgers: 'Naturalizing' in British seas, 1830- 1850. I. Hist. BioI. 12. Rossmaessler, E. A. 1857. Das Susswasser-Aquarium. Eine Anleitung zur Herstel• lung und Pflege desselben. H. Mendelssohn, Leipzig, vi + 88 pp. Scherren, H. [1905 J . The Zoological Society of London. A sketch of its develop• ment and the story of its farm, museum, gardens, menagerie and library. Cassell & Co., London, xii + 252 pp. Schmidt, A. 1867. Nekrolog [E. A. Rossmassler). MalakozooI. BI., 14, 183-190. Shenstone, W. A. 1895. Justus von Liebig, his life and work (1803-1873). Cassell & Co., London, 219 pp. Sowerby, G. B. 1857. Popular history of the aquarium of marine and fresh-water animals and plants. L. Reeve, London, xvi + 327 pp. Thompson, D' A. W. 1940. Science and the classics. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, viii + 264 pp. Thompson, W. 1853. On marine vivaria. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser. 11,382- 386. Thynne, A. 1859. On the increase of madrepores; with notes by P. H. Gosse, F.R.S. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 3rd ser., 3,449461. Vevers, H. G. 1976. Management of a public aquarium. In: The Zoological Society of London 1826-1976 and beyond, S. Zuckerman (ed.), Academic Press, London, pp. 105-118.353 pp. Ward, N. B. 1836. Letter from N. B. Ward, Esq. to Dr. Hooker, on the subject of his improved method of transporting living plants. Companion Bot. Mag., 2,317-320. Ward, N. B. 1837. Reports on the subject of the growth of plants in closed glass vessels. Rep. Br. Assoc. Advmt. Sci., pt. 1,501-505. Ward, N. B. 1852. On the growth of plants in closely glazed cases. 2nd ed. Van Voorst, London, x + 143 pp. (Ist ed., 1842). Ward, S. H. 1854. On the growth of plants in closely-glazed cases. Proc. R. Instn. Gt. Br., 1,407412. Warington, R. 1851. Notice of observations on the adjustment of the relations between the animal and vegetable kingdoms, by which the vital functions of both are premanently maintained. Q. II. Chern. Soc., 3,52-54. Warington, R. 1852. Observations on the natural history of the water-snail and fish kept in a confined and limited portion of water. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., 10, 273-280. Warington, R. 1853. On preserving the balance between the animal and vegetable organisms in sea-water. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., 12, 319-324. Warington, R. 1854. Memoranda of observations made in small aquaria, in which the balance between the animal and vegetable organisms was permanently maintained. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., 14,366-373. Warington, R. 1855. On the injurious effects of an excess or want of heat and light on the aquarium. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., 2nd ser., 16,313-315. Warington, R. 1857. On the aquarium. Proc. Instn. Gt. Br., 2, 403408. West, R. A. 1865. Fresh and salt-water aquaria. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1864. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., pp. 446-470. White, G. 1876. Natural history and antiquities of Se1borne, with notes by Frank Buckland. A Chapter on antiquities by Lord Se1borne. And new let- The Victorian Aquarium in Ecological and Social Perspective 539

ters. Macmillan & Co., London, Vol. 1, xxii + 308 pp.; Vol. 2, viii + 283 pp. (lst ed., 1789). Wilson, D. P. 1962. The semi-closed circulation system at the Plymouth Labo• ratory. Bull. Inst. Oceanogr., Monaco, no. special, lB (Ier Congres Internation• al D' Aquariologie, Monaco, 1960), 13-27. Wood, J. G. 1857. The common objects of the sea shore; including hints for an aquarium. G. Routledge, & Co., London, 204 pp. Woodward, S. P. 1851-56. A manual of the Mollusca; or, Rudimentary treatise of recent and fossil shells. John We ale, London, xvi + 486 pp.