40 
still water, to which he was unaccustomed He lay all the time 
ensconced between two small stones, hiding himself as closely as 
possible from observation, refusing food, and evidently sulking as wild ' 
animals do when first placed in confinement. The enormous size of 
his mouth as compared with his other dimensions, gave evidence of the 
capacity of these fish for disposing of a large meal at a time, but I never 
had the satisfaction of witnessing the operation of feeding, and I fancy 
from the retiring habits of the " bull-head " family, very little is really 
known about them. 
Now leaving fish, I must dwell tor a minute or two, on the 
amphibious denizens of the Aquarium. The Water Newt, Eft, and 
Triton, familiarly known as Lizards, although as repulsive as snakes to 
some people, afford much interest and amusement. I must confess I 
have never been fond of them, as I have a great aversion, inborn I 
suppose, to both lizards and snakes, but I have had Tritons in my 
Aquarium, as the cadets I spoke of, frequently brought them to me. 
The Triton is by no means shy, and is really grotesque in his move- 
ments, lying sometimes midway between the bottom and the surface, 
with all his legs spread out at right angles. At other times he suspends 
himself in the water, moving his feet up and down as a bather treads 
water, then darting frantically about with great rapidity. Occasionally 
he sits erect on the bottom of the aquarium, on his hind legs with his 
fore paws bent forward, like a dog begging. This position the Triton 
will keep for some time. He is also fond of resting on any portion of 
rock projecting out of the water, but if he can by any possibility climb 
to the edge of the aquarium, that is the last of him, as he is evidently 
of a roving disposition, and in search of tfie nearest road to liberty he 
is very apt to be crushed out of existence under foot. 
The Tadpoles that were brought to me in every stage of growth, 
were, as the auctioneer says : " Too numerous to mention." I occasion- 
ally, to please the bringer, kept one or two for a short time, or till such 
period as their tails dropped off, at which stage of theirjexistence, if I had 
not treated them myself to freedom, they would have gained it for 
themselves, as a frog in a state of maturity can only be kept in bounds 
by a fine wire grating laid over the aquarium, without which it is futile 
to keep them for observation. The tadpole, owing to the imperfection 
