ProceediiKjs. 3 



to settle. In forty-eight hours it will be brilliantly clear, and 

 may be carefully drawn o£f with a syphon, so as not to disturb 

 the sediment. 



No growing seaweeds should be placed in the tank, and, 

 after the water has been added, the whole should be left for 

 a week or more before any animals are put in. By this time 

 or longer, according to the aspect and time of year, the 

 spores of conferva will be beginning to strike root, and 

 animal life may be gradually introduced. No exact directions 

 on this head can be given ; everything must depend on the 

 dimensions of the aquarium, the temperature, and the class 

 of creatures it is desired to keep. As a rule, the lower 

 organisms will be found easier to keep than the higher, and 

 will require a smaller amount of oxygen to support them in 

 health. Several anemones may be kept in a vessel which 

 will only bear one or two fish. Do not put in too many 

 things at a time ; let one specimen get thoroughly settled 

 before adding another, always bearing in mind that the first 

 few days in confinement are the most trying to your animals, 

 especially fishes. If they sui-vive the first week they are 

 likely to survive the second, and then still more likely to 

 survive the third, and so on ; always supposing that they 

 can be provided with their proper food, and that their habits 

 of life are such as to render them fit subjects for aquarium 

 study. 



The temperature should be kept as uniform as possible, 

 though this in summer time is a rather difficult matter. I 

 have found it a good plan to have a large earthen crock, a 

 grape-jar or similar vessel, capable of holding several gallons 

 of water. This is kept in a cool cellar, and every evening, or 

 oftener during sultry weather, a portion of the water can be 

 drawn off from the aquarium and replaced with cool water 

 from the reserve, to which the heated water from the tank 

 can then be transferred to be cooled in its turn. NcAjer, if 

 you can avoid it, throw away water which has become 

 acclimatized in your aquaria. Old water is far preferable to 

 new, an.d, if it should become too dense by evaporation, it is 

 easy to reduce it by adding a little rain-water, though I do 



B 2 



