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THE AQUARIUM, JANUARY, 1895. 



this a saucer, using the latter as the 

 table, you can control the feeding 

 nicely. This saucer should be washed 

 out frequently. It is necessary in this 

 case, too, to have aquatic plants grow- 

 ing at the bottom. 



Miss Mary K. — Sunfish are very 

 handsome fish, but it will never do to 

 put them together with goldfish, ex- 

 cept the sunfish are quite small. Cat- 

 fish are not objectionable in an aqua- 

 rium, but if too large, say over two and 

 a half inches long, they will grab nearly 

 all the food intended for the other fish 

 and thus grow soon too large while the 

 other fish will starve. 



Mrs. J. G. — Subject your camelia 

 japonica to a higher temperature. 

 Syringe with pure water the leaves and 

 stem daily, and thus make it produce 

 young growth early; these shoots will 

 ripen and flower-buds will be formed at 

 their extremities. Further on in the 

 spring, when these buds appear, if the 

 pots are full of roots, the plant should 

 be repotted into a pot one size larger 

 (not more), using a compost of rich, 

 turfy loam and a little sand, then place 

 it away in the shade, out of doors, and 

 never let it get too wet nor too dry. 

 After taking it into the house again its 

 position should not be changed. Turn- 

 ing one side towards the light this 

 week, and the other the next, causes 

 the flower-buds to drop off. 



Miss R. K. — The Bouvardia should 

 have light, rich soil. If grown in pot 

 this must be large, to give plenty of 

 root room. It will not flower except in 

 very warm moist atmosphere. It may 

 safely be called the most unsuitable 

 plant for house culture. 



Mr. B. — The banded water-beetle, 

 {Dyticus marginaUs) and the black 



water-beetle {Hydvoijliilus piceus) are 

 two of the worst things a person can 

 put into a well stocked aquarium. 

 Especially in the summer they display 

 a fearful appetite. The Dyticus eats 

 uj) anything that, lives, and it can 

 catch. First it eats all the tadpoles 

 and snails, next it attacks the fish and 

 if you should have a crayfish in your 

 collection it will attack it below the 

 tail and keep on eating until the empty 

 shell of the crab is left. The Hydro- 

 philus is not quite as bad as the former, 

 but, being a vegetarian, soon makes its 

 presence known by destruction among 

 the aquatic plants. These beetles 

 should be kept entirely by themselves 

 in an insect aquarium, for which our 

 frog-house design (see p. 110), is very 

 good. If the two species are kept in 

 one jar, the Dyticus should be regular- 

 ly fed with small pieces of fresh beef,, 

 as it will otherwise eat the Hydro- 

 philus. 



Both of these beetles are subject to a. 

 kind of fungus disease, which appears 

 first on their backs. Specimens at- 

 tacked with this disease should be taken 

 out of the water, and a little salt put 

 on the affected parts, will cure them 

 again. 



Although we have frequently heard 

 that these beetles leave the aquarium at 

 night, we never had one that did. 



The Aquarium has now subscribers 

 all over the globe. Africa joined in a 

 few days ago, when we received a sub- 

 scription from the Cape Colonies. 



A year's subscription to The Aquari- 

 um is fifty cents. It will make a very 

 useful Christmas gift to some of your 

 young friends. 



