53 



Some of the best reference books on l)oth plant and animal life 

 are found in the New York State Teachers* Library and can be ob- 

 tained by teachers through the school commissioners. 



Every boy and girl who likes to taste the fresh, peppery plants 

 which they find growing in cold springs knows watercress. If 

 the aquarium is not too deep, this plant will grow above the 



surface and furnish a resting place for 

 some snail which, tired perhaps by its con- 

 stant activity, enjoys a few minutes in the 

 open air. 



Duckweed or duck's - meat (figure 7), 

 grows on the surface, dangling its long 

 thread-like roots in the water. A little of it 



Fig. 7 — Duckweed. 



is enough. Too much would keep us from looking down upon our 

 little friends in the water. 



The parrot's feather (figure 8, a), is an ornamental water plant that 

 can be obtained from a florist; there is one that looks very like it 

 which grows in our ponds. It is called water- milfoil. 



Fig. %,— Water plants. 



The water purslane, e, or the common stoneworts, Nitella and 

 Chara, d, e; the water-weed, f, and the horn-wort, c, look graceful 

 and pretty in the water. If you do not find any of these, you are 

 sure to find others growing in the ponds in your neighborhood which 

 will answer the purpose just as well. 



