200 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



SEES HALLEY S COMET. 



First Sight Recorded by Professor 

 Wolff of Heidelberg. 



Cambridge, Mass., Sept. 12. — Hal- 

 ley's comet, for which astronomers the 

 world over have been eagerly watch- 

 ing, has been seen, after an absence of 

 seventy-four years, according to a dis- 

 patch received to-day at the Harvard 

 Observatory from Professor Wolff of 

 Heidelberg. 



The sight was obtained on Septem- 

 ber 11 in right ascension, 6:18:12; 

 declination, iy° 11' north. It could be 

 made out only with a large telescope. 



The position of the comet at the date 

 of its re-discovery by Prof. Wolff is 

 shown in the small section map in the 

 lower left hand corner above, as it does 

 not come into view in the East until 1 1 

 P. M. on Oct. 1st, two hours later than 

 the main map is arranged for on that 

 date. 



Under the Auspices of The Aquarium Society of Philadelphia, Herrran T. Wolf, Editor 



Pond Breeding of Goldfishes. 



In the May number of The Guide 

 to Nature, relative to the propagation 

 of aquarium fishes, a greenhouse ad- 

 mirably arranged with breeding tanks 

 and storage basins was shown, the 

 principal purpose of which is the stor- 

 age and sale of goldfishes bred in other 

 localities. 



The editor of this section recently 

 visited these establishments and also 

 found the hatching ponds so well ar- 

 ranged that their reproduction here 

 will be of interest to the general reader 

 and of marked benefit to those inter- 

 ested in fish culture. 



The greenhouse of Mr. Frank C. 

 Selak is located near the business cen- 

 ter of Reading, Pennsylvania, the 

 hatchery a half mile beyond the village 

 of Angelica and six miles from the city, 

 the latter property consisting of what 

 was two farms comprising one hundred 

 acres. Nearly parallel to one of the 

 roads was a marshy stretch of meadow 

 bordered by trees and underbrush and 

 depressed between fields of higher ele- 

 vation, which constitutes a natural, 

 sheltered valley. A spring run passed 

 through this valley and the contour of 

 the land favored the site for ponds in 



connection with the country residence 

 of the owner. Investigation revealed 

 the existence of more than fifty springs. 



The first year, 1904, the lily pond 

 was made, in which also to keep a few 

 goldfishes, when it was found they 

 thrived so well that the following year 

 three other ponds, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, were 

 added with the view of breeding fishes 

 and resulted in obtaining three thou- 

 sand young goldfishes which were sold 

 at retail in Reading. 



The next year six more ponds were 

 made and the result was twenty thou- 

 sand fishes of salable size after the 

 season, all of which were readily de- 

 posed of at wholesale and retail. In 

 1008 ten additional ponds were made, 

 but the cold weather of the late spring 

 and early summer prevented the devel- 

 opment of the young fishes and great 

 losses occurred, so that at the selling 

 season the crop was not as good as the 

 previous year. On account of the ill- 

 ness of the owner the industry lan- 

 guished during the present season, and 

 the result is not very promising, but 

 in another year, with the present excel- 

 lent facilities, at least one hundred 

 thousand common goldfishes should be 

 bred, and as these command prices at 



