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What is the difference between square- 

 tail, broadtail and veiltail goldfish? 

 W. R. R. These terms all refer to the 

 same type, and are used interchangeably. 



Earthworms may be kept on hand for 

 winter feeding in boxes of moist soil, 

 placed in a cool cellar. The addition of 

 some coffee grounds to the earth is said 

 to be beneficial — to the worms. 



A noticeable feature of the boulevards 

 and parks of Baltimore is the number 

 of concrete ponds or basins for goldfish. 

 Those observed contained hundreds of 

 fish of the common variety, many 

 attaining a length of ten to twelve inches. 



Dried shrimp imported from Germany, 

 is a popular food among aquarisls 

 keeping native and foreign wild fish. It 

 has the merit of being much cheaper 

 than the usual prepared foods. Many 

 feed it exclusively when live food is not 

 available, even to goldfish, with excel- 

 lent results. 



Where is the organ of hearing in fish 

 located? E. J. E. Each scale of the 

 lateral line on fish is perforated by a 

 tube leading to a duct connected with a 

 sac in the head; their function being the 

 secretion of mucus which covers the 

 body to lessen the friction of scales and 

 water, and make it impervious. This 

 mucilaginous system is also provided 

 with nerves and is the seat of a peculiar 

 sense which corresponds to the organs 

 of touch and hearing. From Goldfish 

 Breeds by H. T. Wolf. 



The study of natural history is within 

 the reach of everyone; and he who is 

 engaged in it, is presented at every step 

 in his progress with something capable 

 of awakening pleasing emotions. 



A knowledge of the food and feeding 

 activities of fishes is fundamental to any 

 fair understanding of their place and 

 function in the general system of life, 

 and especially for their sviccessful main- 

 tenance and breeding in aquaria. 



With what mechanical means are 

 snails provided to scrape the algae from 

 the objects upon ivhich it grows. C. I. S. 

 Snails secure their food by the action 

 of the odontophore, radula, lingual 

 ribbon, or tongue as it is variously 

 termed. It is essentially a strap which 

 bears a long series of transversely-dis- 

 posed teeth. By means of muscles the 

 strap acts like a rasp or file vipon any 

 object to which it is applied. The 

 resulting wear of the teeth is made good 

 by the development of new teeth in a 

 secreting sac in which the rear end of 

 the tongue is lodged. In some species 

 the teeth are not all of the same shape 

 and size. 



W^hy is Vallisneria spiralis so called? 

 S. S. H. The genus was named in honor 

 of Antonio Vallisneri. an Italian botanist 

 of the Eighteenth Century. The specific 

 name, spiralis, refers to the habit of the 

 stem of the female flower. The flowers 

 of the female plants rise to the surface 

 of the water by uncoiling their long 

 spirally twisted stalks; the flowers of the 

 male plant become detached from the 

 short pedicels at the bottom and rise to 

 the surface. After fertilization, the 

 female flowers return under water by 

 the recoiling of the spiral stem and the 

 seeds are ripened under the surface. 

 Vallisneria spiralis is a dioecious species, 

 that is, the sexes are distinct and not 

 present in a single plant, which is either 

 male or female. 



