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fouled the water, and to remedy this he tried die introduction of a few 
snails, which, feeding on decaying matter, quickly restored purity and 
clearness to the water. In 1852, he experimented with sea-water and 
its occupants, with equal success. To Mr. Grosse, however, the well- 
known naturalist, may be attributed the popularity of the Aquarium 
which is certainly the purest of all household recreations. His first 
work on the subject, somewhere about the year 1855, was read with 
avidity, and although the London " Punch." levelled its keenest wij. 
.md satire against the new mania, and pointed to all the mishaps which 
might befall housekeepers by the breaking of the Aquarium and the 
consequent deluging of carpets, the passion for aquaria grew, and in 
1857 they may be said to have been formally established in England. 
In that year, one of the quarterly Reviews remarked that the making 
and stocking of these had created a new and important branch in com- 
mercial industry. In 1856, Barnum introduced into New York the 
first of what he styled -"Ocean and River Gardens," and a few 
months afterwards they were for sale of all sorts and sizes, for private 
use. Before that, the glass globe for gold-fish was the only represent- 
ative of the new apparatus. In keeping an Aquarium, very little is 
wanted besides the tank itself. It is well to have an india-rubber tube 
or a syphon for drawing off the water when necessary ; a wooden forceps 
for removing any object, and a sponge stick for cleaning the glass, 
together with a small fine-meshed hand net for handling any of the 
inmates if need be. 
Some years ago, when residing in New York State, I was 
attached to one of the Military Colleges affiliated with West Point ; and 
one of the first things that I did to engage the interests of the Cadets 
under my charge, was to turn their minds, during leisure hours, to the 
study of Natural History. 
As I was at that time making collections of all kinds, I enlisted 
them in the work of procuring specimens, and I organized, on our 
Saturday holiday, field parties among the woods and mountains in the 
vicinity of the College, along the Hudson River. This was just at the 
time when Aquaria were in vogue, and I took advantage of the first 
visit that I paid to New York, to purchase an Aquarium for my own 
private use, which 1 kept in my quarters, open to the inspection of all 
