THE BOOK OF THE AQUARIUM. 
THE WATER CABINET. 
CHAPTER I. 
CONSTRUCTION OF CABINETS. 
Distinctions between the Cabinet and the Aquarium.— 
The Aquarium has not only spread abroad a love for 
Natural History, it has also increased the facilities for the 
study of nature by removing the difficulties which have 
hitherto attended the preservation, for any length of time, 
of living specimens of aquatic life. The tank had 
scarcely taken its place among the resources for pleasure- 
able recreation, and scientific study, when the field of 
culture extended itself, and every variety of minute life 
found in the waters, came to have its share of attention 
for the general profit and delight of the studious. The 
ordinary tank was found insufficient for the wants of the 
aquarian, and wherever a large vessel was to be seen 
stocked with fresh water fishes or marine objects, a collec- 
tion of small jars, phials, or show glasses, was pretty sure 
to be found also. In an aquarium, we may group together 
many dissimilar objects; but it must be evident to the 
most superficial observer, that when immersed in a large 
body of water with other creatures, many objects are ill- 
