THE AQUARIUM 



Issued in the Interests of the Study, 

 Care and Breeding of Aquatic Life 



Published monthly except July and August 

 at I 2th Street, cor. of Cherry, Philadelphia, 

 by th; Aquarium Societies of Brooklyn, 

 Chicago, New York and Philadelphia 



Send all manuscripts, exchanges, books for 

 review, etc. , direct to the Editor-in-chief; 

 all other matter to the Business Manager 



Editor-in-Chief, EUGENE SMITH 

 Bank for Savings Building, Hoboken, N.J. 



Business Manager, W. F. DeVOE 

 Box 383, Baldwin, Long Island, N. Y. 



Subscriptions,^! Single Copies, ioc 



:: Advertising Rates upon Application 



Vol. I NOVEMBER, 191 2 No. 6 



On Growth of the Water Poppy 



By \V. A. POYSER, Hammond, Indiana 



IN a study of botany extending over a 

 long period of years I have been led to 

 make some observations of the rate or 

 rai)idity of growth in sundry species of 

 plants, aquatic and terrestrial. Unless one 

 makes frequent and accurate notes, with 

 the aid of a penny foot rule, he is apt to 

 be astonished when confronted with some 

 simple facts on this line of investigation. 



Recently 1 have been interested in a 

 water poppy (LiomnocharisHumboldti) that 

 has taken upon itself to make quite rapid 

 growth. For some time the plant had been 

 in a tub containing about two inches of 

 water, and managed to get along nicely, 

 with stems al)out three inches long. Look- 

 ing about for plants for a new aquarium, I 

 decided to use it. The aquarium was filled 

 nine inches, not including two inches of 

 clean quartz sand (no soil) from Lake 

 Michigan. When the plant was set a new 

 leaf was just appearing from the crown. 

 In three days the developed leaf was at the 

 surface, having made a daily growth of 

 three inches. No other aquatic plant of 

 the higher classes that has come under my 

 observation has made quite so rapid growth 



in aquaria. In nature, however, greater 

 develoj)ment has been noted. The ostrich 

 fern of the eastern states, a fern that is 

 found in the wet sand or gravel of river 

 bottoms, has been recorded as putting forth 

 its fronds in springtime at the remarkable 

 rale of six inches per day. 



Inasmuch as water forms a large portion 

 of a plant body, it is to be expected that 

 aquatic plants or those of moist situations 

 will grow more rapidly than terrestrial 

 species having limited or intermittent water 

 supply. Plants in common with all organic 

 bodies are made up of cells filled with proto- 

 plasm, the "life matter." Growth consists of 

 a division of the individual cell into two 

 cells, and so on, until the maximum size of 

 the particular species is attained. Given 

 unusually favoral)le environment and the 

 average may be exceeded. Further obser- 

 vations along this line by my fellow aquarists 

 would be interesting. The greater the 

 number of investigations and reports, the 

 more valuable will be our magazine. Every- 

 one at some time or another has encountered 

 a phenomenon, or a seeming one. Let us 

 hear about it. A seeming trivial occurrence 

 may be just what another needs to fill in a 

 gap in his line of research. 



Good Light Important 



C. G. B. SCHRNK, Milwaukee 



PROPER lighting for a self-sustaining or 

 balanced aquarium is very important- 

 The better the light, the better the con- 

 ditions of the aquarium. 



Most writers on matters pertaining to the 

 aquarium, at least all the articles I have 

 read, advocate a north light where possible. 

 From my own exi)erience I find that as a 

 rule the north light from a residence window 

 is insufficient in actinic power. Unless the 

 light comes unobstructed and direct from 

 the sky, the north light is not as good as 

 fi'om any other direction. 



To illustrate more clearly : I have a 36- 

 gallon tank in my house facing three north 



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