THE FRESH-WATER AQUARIUM. Al 
two or three hungry minnows loiter about, looking wist- 
fully at what they dare not hope to obtain. 
It is a pity the loach is so delicate ; it shows signs of 
exhaustion sooner than any fish in the collection. If 
oxygen fails, it comes to the surface to gulp air, and at 
last rolls over on its back, and pants in a way that is very 
MNT 
fe 
/ 
4 
AU YUL, 
MINNOW, TENCH, & PERCH. 
painful to witness. Removed to a pan, under a jet of 
water, it soon recovers; but if long confined in a vessel 
the least overstocked, especially in warm weather, finishes 
his career by convulsive gaspings at the surface. 
A curious species of loach, known as the spine loach, 
