102 THE WATER CABINET. 
placed for examination, especially if we use the micro- 
scope. Hence, where the study is pursued with any 
degree of ardour, some special arrangements are neces- 
sary to enable us to keep in a healthy state, and in a way 
that admits of close scrutiny at any moment, such of the 
smaller aquatic objects as most commend themselves for 
beauty or scientific interest. Many beginners, unable to 
resist the temptation of a jar of beetles, or a collection of 
larva, and having no cther means of keeping them, have 
placed them in the tank to mingle with the stock of 
finny creatures, and have thereby either lost the better 
part of the collection or have been compelled to break up 
the stock and begin anew. I have already suggested 
that a few species of water beetles, and aquatic larva, 
may be safely preserved in an aquarium; but an aqua- 
rium is by no means the best place for them, if we wish 
to study their habits closely, or investigate their me- 
chanism and economy by the aid of lenses: all insects, 
many mollusks, larva, and other small objects should be 
kept apart, and a collection of such objects is what we 
mean by a Water Cabinet. 
To the genuine student, there is really more for re- 
munerative study in such a collection than can be found 
in the Aquarium, though the tank, whether river or 
marine, will always prove most attractive as an orna- 
ment, and because it requires less care and study, will be 
pretty sure to retain the greatest number of admirers. 
But the Aquarium and the Cabinet are distinct things; 
they cannot be combined in the same vessel, and, though 
a Water Cabinet is but another form, or rather a series of 
