14 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



took a considerable part. For Professor Owen tells 

 us that the Wenlock Edge, in Shropshire, composed 

 of the same formation of rock, is nothing more or 

 less than an ancient coral-reef thirty miles in length ! 

 The Plymouth limestone belongs to the Devonian 

 period, and in it we find this and other genera of 

 reef-building corals, and many of our best pala'ontolo- 

 gists are of the opinion that this limestone is nothing 

 more than a Devonian coral-reef skirting the older 

 regions of Cambrian and Silurian rocks. 



( To be continued.) 



ADDITIONS TO OUR LIST OF ASSISTING 

 NATURALISTS. 



[Continued from page 270, vol. xv. 1879. Additional names 

 received up to the gt/i u 'time.} 



Cheshire. 

 Birkenhead. A. E. Lomax, 41 Church Road, Tran- 

 mere. Phanerogamic Botany, 



Cornwall. 



Penzance. Ernest D. Marquand, Hea, Madron. 

 Botany (Phanerogams, Mosses, Hepaticce, Lichens, 

 Diatoms), Entomology, Land and Freshwater 

 Mollusca. 



Essex. 



Colchester. J. C. Shenstone, 13 High Street. Local 

 Flowering Plants. 



Gloucestershire. 



Bristol. W. Barrett Roue, 165 White Ladies Road. 

 Ornithology and Oology. 



Kent. 



Hadlow. Fred. W. E. Shrivell. Flowering Plants. 



New Brompton. Dr. Henry J. Morton, The Lindens, 

 Pres. Rochester Nat. Soc. British Flora, especially 

 Phanerogams, Microscopy, General Natural Hist. 



Rochester. J. Hepworth, Vice Pres. Rochester Nat. 

 Soc. 2 Union Street. Botany, including Cryp- 

 togams, Mycology, Geology. 



Lancashire. 



Manchester. R. E. Holding, 130 Sowerby Street, 

 Moss Side. Skulls, general Osteology, British and 

 Foreign Ornithology and Mammals. 



Nottinghamshire. 



Nottingham. E. Wilson, F.G.S., 18 Low Pavement. 

 Geology : especially Carboniferous, Permian, Trias, 

 Rhaetic and Lias. The Yorkshire Coalfield; and 

 information as to deep borings and sinkings for 

 coal, water, &c. 



Rutland. 



Uppingham. W. II. Jones. British Flowering 

 Plants. 



IRELAND. 



Co. Down, Holy wood. P. Quin Keegan, LL.D. 

 Seaside Fauna. 



HINTS FOR A MARINE AQUARIUM. 

 By Charles H. Dymond. 



WHAT can be more exhilarating : what more 

 instructive than a ramble by the sea ? The 

 heavy dull roar of the waves, the whirling flights and 

 discordant cries of the sea-birds, with their white 

 wings glistening in the sunshine, the towering cliffs 

 and jagged tempest-beaten shore. This is the field 

 to contemplate and study the wonders of the mighty 

 deep, and to gain knowledge concerning some of 

 those beings which inhabit it. 



As we walk along at low water, and see numerous 

 pools left by the tide, teeming not only with life but 

 with luxuriant vegetation which affords good shelter 

 for the small fish which dart away at our approach, 

 the thought comes over us, that we should like to 

 have something of the sort at home, where we could 

 study the habits of Goby, Blenny, and Prawn at 

 leisure. 



This, of course, is attended with some difficulty, 

 especially if we live far inland, but is quite practical 

 if care and trouble be exercised. It must not be 

 expected that a few fish, or whatever you may find, 

 put into a jar of salt water, will live on without 

 any further attention being paid them, for the 

 oxygen contained in the water would soon become 

 exhausted, and the water become unfit to support 

 animal life. It is my intention, therefore, in this 

 short paper, to give a few practical hints to those 

 who would like to get up a small marine aquarium. 



The most economical vessel is a bell-shape glass 

 with a knob at the top, and may be purchased at 

 any glass warehouse for a few shillings ; this can be 

 fitted into a wooden stand, and you will at once 

 have it ready to receive anything you may deem 

 proper to put into it. 



A layer of sand and small stones which may vary 

 in depth from one to three inches, should be placed 

 in the bottom ; sand from a sea beach being most 

 suitable. On this a few shells may be placed with 

 advantage. 



The next step is the introduction of various sorts 

 of Algrc, for on their growth depends the success of 

 the undertaking, 



Chlorosperms, or green-seeded Algse, are to my 

 mind the most useful, for they pour out oxygen 

 in very large quantities when in a healthy state, and 

 are acted on by light ; not only do they give out 



