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THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



years, increasing in beauty, if not in 

 size. The 10-year specimen is a pearl 

 comet, with body three inches long 

 and a tail as long as his body ; with 

 ventral fins one and one quarter 

 inches in length and the others 

 in proportion, and with double anal 

 fins ; and I think any fish enthusiast, 

 watching the fairy-like grace and 

 beauty of that fluff of filmy white 

 draperies, would resent, as I should, 

 the impertinence of a wriggling black 

 tadpole in the same field of vision. 

 And they can be dispensed with if one 

 has a mind to act as their own Health 

 Department. 



My aquarium is, of course, a 

 balanced one as regards plants and 

 fish, but contains no scavengers. Five 

 minutes judicious use of the glass dip- 

 tube, each morning before feeding, ef- 

 fectually removes all sediment, offal, 

 etc., and there is no need to have any 

 refuse food. A little care in feeding 

 soon enables one to determine just 

 what amount of food should be given 

 each day, my own rule being never to 

 give more than the fish will clean up 

 in five minutes, and feed only once a 

 day, preferably in the morning. Sunday 

 is a fast day, with mine, as they are at 

 present in my down-town office. 



The cleaning of the glass, in the 

 snailless aquarium, is easily accom- 

 plished with a small sponge, occasion- 

 ally rubbed over the glass to take off 

 the plant growth, rubbing carefully 

 over a small section of the glass and 

 then squeezing the sponge in clean 

 water before doing the next section. 

 This will not need to be done very 

 often unless the aquarium is in too 

 strong sunlight. My experience has 

 been that very little trouble is ever had 

 with rotifera, parasites, etc., if the 

 water is kept slightly salt, rock salt 

 being preferable to table salt. 



If the fish are kept merely to amuse 

 little children, the cheap common fish 

 answer every purpose, but if they are 

 the pastime of adults, who are willing 

 to give the care and attention they 

 need (and it is very little), I wish to 

 earnestly recommend the keeping of 

 fancy fish exclusively, both longtails 

 and fantails, as they are not only beau- 



tiful, but have the added interest of 

 change and growth in that beauty. In 

 a small aquarium the fish increase but 

 little in size, and the common fish, with 

 no tendency toward freak growth, do 

 not change at all, merely growing old 

 and experienced if conditions are 

 favorable ; but if one can keep the fancy 

 fish healthy and happy, their beautiful 

 fins increase in length, until one has 

 fish which cannot be obtained for love 

 or money in any small market. Oc- 

 casionally one gets a fantail or long- 

 tail which seems to have reached its 

 maximum growth of fin very early and 

 does not perceptibly change, but these 

 are rare and can be weeded out of the 

 collection if they fail to "deliver the 

 goods." 



Another important item, for those 

 having rare and expensive fish, is the 

 quarantining of all new arrivals until 

 satisfied that they are healthy. My 

 way is to put them in a fairly salt 

 bath for a short time, watching them 

 carefully for signs of distress, and then 

 diluting the water until but slightly 

 salt and leaving the fish by themselves 

 for a few days. The salt bath is an ef- 

 fectual, but safe, remedy for the fungus 

 growth which is so apt to attack fish 

 which have been over-crowded in ship- 

 ping and storage, and a few days' ob- 

 servation will usually enable one to 

 determine whether the fish are in con- 

 dition to be safely introduced into the 

 aquarium. It is also well to put plants 

 in a weak salt bath for a day or so 

 before using. 



Will Editor Wolf kindly answer the 

 query: Is the spawn of the common 

 water snails (eggs and jelly sheath) 

 desirable as an occasional feed for 

 goldfish? In some localities it is more 

 easily procured than mosquito larvae. 

 Nellie B. Pendergast. 



The commonplace is the grandest of 

 all things ; that the exceptional in any 

 line is no finer, better, or more beau- 

 tiful than the usual, and that what is 

 really wanting is not that we should 

 possess something we have not at pres- 

 ent, but that our eyes should be opened 

 to see and our hearts to feel what we 

 all have.— Dr. R. M. Bucke. 



