21 
show its power to heal sword cuts, and the Liver worts showed their 
liver-like thalluses for a similar beneficent purpose. 
. The descriptive names explain themselves, such as—Arrow 
head, Adder’s tongue, Mouse tail, Bird’s foot, Goose foot, &c. So 
Snake weed from its twisted roots; Bugloss, 7.¢. Ox-tongue, from 
its rough leaves; Milfoil, thousand leaved, Foxglove, not glove of a 
fox, but fox glew, ¢.e. fox music, akin to Norwegian Fox bell. 
Of names having an ecclesiastical origin, the ‘‘ Star of Bethle- 
hem ’’ has white stellate flowers, Christ’s thorn, St. John’s wort, 
St. Peter’s wort, &c., are named from the date of their flowering, 
Samphire (St. Pierre) from its connection with sea cliffs, and hence 
with fishermen. 
As illustrations of names originating in the legendary lore of 
ancient Greece and Rome, we have the Anemone which sprang from 
the tears of Venus, evanescent as the wind; the Asphodel which 
clothed the meadows of Hades; the Narcissus, which from its 
heavy drowsy scent was deemed the flower of the Infernal god- 
desses. 
Vi 
THE MARINE AQUARIUM, 
BY 
MR. SIBERT SAUNDERS. 
Read FEBRUARY 6, 1884, 
The primary conditions of success are a large area of water- 
surface in proportion to its depth; the regulation of light and 
temperature ; a due proportion of animal to vegetable life; anda 
eareful regard to the amount of life which a given quantity of 
water will sustain. 
The first of the before-mentioned conditions would be met by 
having a tank constructed, the depth of which should be one-fourth 
of its length, with a surface breadth of rather more than half its 
length (outside measurement); for example :—length 28 inches; 
breadth 16 inches; depth 7 inches. A tank of these proportions 
would accommodate a greater number of sedentary animals than a 
larger and heavier (and therefore more expensive) one having a 
greater depth of water without a proportionate surface area. The 
only drawback is its extreme shallowness, which makes it desirable 
to view the contents only from the top, but, as the view from above 
gives the aspect under which the contents of the aquarium would 
be seen if they were in a rock pool, the naturalness of this arrange- 
ment may be preferred by many. The form of tank which I 
