THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895. 



187 



them "right close to the eye." The 

 feeding-fiend misunderstood the mean- 

 ing of the screens entirely. Of course, 

 no one but "city folks " could think of 

 preventing these dear little fishes from 

 partaking of their luncheon — consisting 

 principally of home-made pie. They 

 would go to the trouble of breaking it 

 into sufficiently small pieces and force 

 it through the meshes. Two young 

 ladies we will never forget, as we 

 caught them in the act, busily engaged, 

 both on the same tank, feeding the fish 

 with sponge cake, nsing the protective 

 (?) screen for a grater. Good-natured 

 and polite, we stopped their proceed- 

 ings, and were informed by thetn that 

 we need not fear any bad effects, be- 

 cause they had baked the cake them- 

 selves, it being no " bought stuff." We 

 had no doubt as to the quality of the 

 cake, for the fish had literally filled 

 themselves up with it; and we were 

 compelled to renew the water of this 

 tank at once. If we inform you that 

 the tank held a barrelf ul, you can meas- 

 ure our appreciation of home-made 

 Kentucky sponge cake. These few ex- 

 amples were caused by sweet innocence; 

 but when one drops a box of sulphur 

 matches, chewing tobacco, and, in one 

 case, a chunk of unslaked lime (which 

 he had to bring from ontside the expo- 

 sition grounds), into a tank, or cuts 

 the glass with the diamond of a ring, 

 we think it is done with bad intent. 



On another occasion we had our dis- 

 play guarded by iron railings, made of 

 gas pipe. It is true this kept the ob- 

 server at a safer distance, but it like- 

 wise made the display less interesting, 

 especially to the yonnger generation. 

 On succeeding occasions we displayed 

 our collection in show-window fashion. 

 This arrangement guarantees entire 

 satisfaction, both to the exhibitor and 



the observer. We used this method 

 first in 1879, and it has shown that it 

 covers all wants. 



In order to obtain the most striking 

 effects, the tanks should be in conven- 

 ient height to the eyes of the observer; 

 the shape of the tanks should be long, 

 rather than high, with sufficient depth 

 (toward the rear) to admit the forma- 

 tion of a proper background. 



The all important light is controlled 

 by adjustable screens. Very beautiful 



Cave or Uxdergruund AycARii'M. 



effects can thus be secured with either 

 daylight or artificial light. For light- 

 ing up the tanks at dark, the light 

 should enter the water from above the 

 surface of the water, and as much from 

 the front as possible, keeping it (the 

 light itselt) out of the spectator's view. 

 The outside space, the walk or passage 

 in which the observer is, should be but 

 dimly lighted, if lighted at all. The 

 effect that is produced in this way is 

 somewhat similar to that produced by 

 a small bull's-eye lantern fastened in 

 front of your hat. There will be no 

 shadow between you and the object you 

 desire to observe. 



The accompanying sketch of one of 

 our aquatic displays will give the reader 



