376 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Sept. 



hassar ; a fish which builds a nest as carefully as the stickleback, 

 though one " not placed in the water but in a muddy hole just 

 above the surface." Whether we have gold fish or not in the 

 aquarium, is a matter of taste, some persons thinking that they 

 give the aquarium a common fish-globe look. It seems to me if 

 we can get some small ones of a brilliant colour, and of good pro- 

 portions, we should be glad to r<3ceive them into the tank. The 

 great trouble with gold fish is that they are so apt to be deform- 

 ed, some with the gaunt look of a starved fish, others with a hump 

 on the back or a larger or smaller number of fins than usual. 

 Gold fish would be worth keeping in the aquarium for their re- 

 markable colour alone, if for nothing more. 



Small eels and horned pouts add to the variety of fishes in the 

 aquarium, but both are so uneasy and so very voracious that they 

 are not pleasing inmates of the tank ; wandering up and down 

 the sides of the tank, they seem discontented and ill at ease. — 

 Young alewives are so beautiful that one is tempted to try them 

 in the aquarium ; rarely do they flourish in it. 



One of the most interesting animals for the aquarium is the 

 triton, or water-newt ; these tritons are often found in what are 

 called, in the country, pond-holes, seldom in brooks or ponds ; 

 they are perfectly harmless and will remain on the warm hand as 

 long as one has patience to hold them ; they come up to the sur- 

 face to breathe, and therefore do not consume much oxygen ; 

 they are perfectly hardy and easy to keep alive, eating small 

 pieces of beef eagerly; they occasionally change their skins, bring- 

 ing the old skin over their heads, and then swallowing it just as 

 the toads do. Their odd motions in the water, often poising 

 themselves on the end of the tail or on one toe, are very amusing. 

 They lay their eggs in the early spring either on or between the 

 leaves of water-plants. By the middle of August the young are 

 nearly two inches long ; they breathe at first with gills, but by 

 September they come to the surface for air, as the older ones do. 

 These tritons outlive all the other specimens in the tank, and 

 they live so peaceably with their companions that they are in- 

 valuable as aquarial specimens. — C. B. Brigham, in American 

 Naturalist. 



