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held towards them under water, their fins and spines bristling up like 
the hairs on a bull-dog's neck, when excited. They snap at everything, 
and it is impossible to keep any larva; in an aquarium any length of time 
if these fish are joint occupants. I have read of sticklebacks building 
their nests and breeding among the weeds in an aquarium, but I never 
witnessed any operation of this kind myself, as I frequently changed 
my tenants for the sake of watching the habits of the different kinds of 
fish from time to time brought to me, with the exception of the gold-fish, 
which I have always retained. 
Bass, I find to be for the most part, nocturnal in their habits, 
lying comparatively still the greater part of the day. Like the sun-fish, 
they are very tenacious of the spot they select, which they occasionally 
sail quietly round and round as if guarding, and woe to the unwary fish 
who may venture to settle down in the quarters they have chosen. The 
small brook sucker, I have kept and watched with a great deal of 
interest. They are usetul scavengers, cleaning up, by suction, everything 
they come in contact with at the bottom, rolling it over their palate, 
swallowing whatever suits their taste, and thus disposing of a good deal 
of refuse matter which otherwise gives considerable trouble in getting 
rid of. These fish are, however, of what I might style, too delicate a 
constitution to be recommended as permanent occupants, Accustomed 
as they are to running water, and evidently given to roaming in streams, 
they seemed to suffer when pent up in a small space and except for 
temporary observation, I would not recommend their introduction into 
any private aquarium. Crayfish, in the same way, are very unsatis- 
factory occupants, and I never was able to keep one alive for any length 
of time. 
One of the most interesting fish that I ever had in my aquarium 
was a small gar-pike, which was caught in a scoop net at the foot of the 
jocks here in Ottawa and brought to me. This fish lived for several 
weeks, and after his death I placed him in spirits, where he still exists, 
He was most unsociable, turning his back upon all other fish that 
approached him, accepting the apparent overtures of none. The only 
surviving remnant of the fossil bony-scaled Ganoids of the Devonian 
rocks and belonging to the Mesozoic period, his pedigree probably 
caused him to look down on the finny tribe of the present age as his 
