22 THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



dorsal-fin, and some are " awful about the head ;" in fact, hot-water 

 fish are of all shapes and colours — some very lovely, others much 

 deformed. As might be expected, when fish so bred are transferred 

 to water at the ordinary temperature of the season, and left to brave 

 it out, they succumb to the coldness of the climate, and show their 

 (silver bellies to the sky. If, therefore, gold fish are to be kept in 

 water not artificially heated, what are known as " cold fish " must be 

 secured ; at all events, the others should be bought only in summer 

 time, so that they may sufi'er a slighter shock, and get used to the 

 climate by degrees, before winter. 



Auotlier matter of importance is the water itself. If I had not 

 received so many letters on the subject, I should never have dreamt 

 of folks attempting to keep fish in ram-ivater ! It is really absurd ; 

 one might as well expect a poor mouse to live its time out under 

 the exhausted receiver of an air-pump. Eain-water is deficient in 

 the first elements of fish life, namely, oxygen — or, rather, its free 

 oxygen is not in a proper form to afford them support ; and it also 

 wants earthy matter, such as is always plentiful in river-water. 

 But suppose you have no river-water, then you must turn the rain- 

 water into river-water, and the process is very simple. Fix a filter 

 over a large pan, into the pan throw a handful of old mortar and a 

 spadeful of garden mould that is free from any decayed matter or 

 manure ; filter the rain-water on to the earthy mixture, and let it 

 stand a few days, then filter it again into the vessel in which the 

 fish are to be kept, and it will be nearly as good as the purest of 

 river-water for them. To prepare hard spring-water, it is generally 

 only necessary to expose it in an open vessel for a few days, when 

 the salts that cause it to be "hard" will be deposited, the water 

 warmed, and rendered suitable. 



Of course we now come to the question about changing the 

 water. If much trouble is necessary to prepare the water for the 

 fishes, who will care to take such trouble daily ? Ay ! there's the 

 rub. If you want your fishes to live, you must not change the water 

 at all. Kature does not change the water, but she plants a number 

 of vegetables in her lakes and streams ; and if you wish your golden 

 pets to be healthy and happy, you must do the same. No matter 

 what kind of vessel you may choose to keep gold fish in, and no 

 matter what shells, or blocks of granite, or rock crystal you may 

 use for ornament, the beauty of the scene will be enhanced by the 

 immersion in the lymph of a few appropriate plants. Get a few 

 stems of the common Anacharis^ or the water starwort (Chard), 

 Vallisneria, Nitella, or the noble water soldier — in fact, any of the 

 more elegant aquatics — and fix them at the bottom by means of a 

 pebble attached to their lower stems by means of a strip of bast, 

 and they will soon take root if a few clean pebbles are thrown in,^ 

 and in a few weeks' time will sprout in all directions, and form a 

 rich green forest under water, giving shade to the fishes and sup- 

 plying them with oxygen, so that the water never need be changed. 

 Should the glass get coated with a green slime, it will be easy to 

 remove it by means of a sponge ; and if the vessel is emptied for 

 alterations, use the same water, unless it is really discoloured. 



