I First Things First
A Short History of Aquarium Keeping
Those who cannot remember the past are
These words of wisdom are to be condemned to repeat it/
found emblazoned on the wall of the
Aeronautical Museum， Terminal Building， at the John F. Kennedy
International Airport， New York. It is a reply to those people who
might ask why a book such as this should contain a history of fish and
the story of the men who kept and observed them.
Keeping fish in captivity is an ancient art， though how ancient， we
shall probably never know. However， records show that in early
China -- long before the birth of Christ -- the keeping and breeding
of Carp was a flourishing business. In fact \"The Book of Vermillion
Fish\" is credited to Chang Chi en-te， a Chinese author who lived
more than one thousand years before our present western calendar
began.
The Greeks seem to have had a word for everything， so it is no
surprise that Aristotle (384-322 BC)， called \"The Father of All
Learning\" set down and described many species of fish brought to
him. Lacking the benefits of Carl Linnaeus principles for defining
genera and species， he used common names -- common， that is， to
the fishermen of the Aegean Sea. Perhaps it was a good thing that
their numbers were limited to just Over one hundred species!
Then for hundreds of years， men gave the subiect little thought.
They merely parroted the Ar stotelian teachings addin
know ed-e A.^t. AA， \" ， o g little to our
~i~a \"cu~~gtsts nave uncovered evidence that the Romans
kept fish containers. However， I suspect that the Romans were
more interested in enhancing the pleasures of their cuisine than in
contributing to science.
A modern book about life under the Egyptian kings* quotes the
following:
In the gardens at the Palace of Tutmosis the
Third， were to be found huge ornamental
tanks containing fish; they served the dual
purpose of decoration and as a means of
keeping down the mosquitos.
Across the Ocean in the New World， the Spanish invaders under
*COttrell Lem ard \"Lite Under the Pharaohs.\"
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I~)
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