Zoological and Botanical Gardens

Next in importance to an adequate public Museum comes our Zoological and Botanical Gardens for the exhibition of living specimens during the summer season when life is active and interesting.

We have in Stanley Park the excellent nucleus of a Zoological Garden, but there are many blanks in the collection of native animals, and here again we, as a Society for the promotion of the study of Natural History, may be able to assist in contributing specimens. We look forward to the time when the animals will be surrounded by something approaching their native environment, with a little more room to act naturally. Nothing is more painful to a naturalist than to gaze upon an animal parading backwards and forwards behind iron bars suggesting punishment by imprisonment. No doubt, when the people of Vancouver wake up to the fitness of things, and realize the value of having a proper zoological garden, they will see that the necessary funds are provided to enable the Park Commissioners to increase the educational facilities at Stanley Park.

There is one branch of the Zoological collection to which attention might be directed, and that is the desirability of having a marine aquarium. If a suitable building containing tanks could be erected for the exhibition of the many curious specimens which abound in the waters around our coast, it would not only be a great attraction to visitors, but would be of considerable educational value to nature students. Such an aquarium could show the beautiful and gaudy coloured sea-worms, sea anemones, starfishes, cuttle-fish, crabs, as well as food fishes and the numerous other inhabitants of the sea; of course some species will not survive in the water obtained from Burrard Inlet or English Bay on account of the reduced salinity due to our proximity to the fresh water of the Fraser and other rivers, but there is a sufficiently large variety of species to experiment with, and once an aquarium has been established, there will be plenty of willing helpers ready to assist in keeping it well stocked. We must keep in mind that many thousands of tourists and visitors from other towns are forming their opinion of our citizens, according to the high or low standard of such institutions.