A fish {(Jplnocephalus) of Jntlia wliicli can live under 

 sun-baked mud 



East Indian catfish (Macrones), briglit colored and 

 witli long feelers 



itself is made up mainly of 

 amateurs; it includes near- 

 ly a hundred members, a 

 number of whom are (Jer- 

 man-Amerieans who ha\c 

 brought o\er the sea tlieir 

 love of this form of nature 

 study; for in (icrmany the 

 a(|uarium societies are ohl 

 and widely-spread institu- 

 tions, attractiiifi' and train- 

 ing many naturalists. The 

 present society may even be 

 regarded as a fill ale of tlie 

 widespread German organ- 

 ization "Triton." 



The present exhibition 

 demonstrates again, and in 

 an attractive way, the value of keeping an a(|uarium, not as a hobl)y merely, 

 but also as a means of studying the hal)its and de\elopment of many acjuatic 

 forms which would otherwise 

 be inaccessible to naturalists. 

 It even ])uts within range of 

 its owner some of the large 

 questions which these forms 

 illustrate, as for example the 

 variation of aquatic animals 

 and plants under artificial 

 conditions, and the way in 

 which these variations are 

 passed on to the young, ques- 

 tions which lead far into the 

 field of Darwinism. Nor can 

 we leave out of account the 

 experimental value of the 

 a(iuarium, in testing how 

 fishes can l)e reared, and what 

 are the best conditions for 

 breecling them, (|uestions 

 which touch practical fish- 

 eries. The success of the pres- 

 ent exhibition leads one to 



hope that similar displays j„ ^j^,^^ ^.^^^^^ specimens of Betta pugnax are pitted 



will be held annually. against each other like game cocks 



23 



Water "buttt'rfly", Pautodon, from West Africa 



