106 



THE AQUARIUM, APEIL, 1894. 



A^fr^^-^ 



YOU, TOO, NEED RECREATION ! 



Entirely too many people nowadays 

 overtax their nerves ; they forget that 

 sooner or later they will have to pay 

 for it with a broken-down constitution. 

 We Americans speak with contempt of 

 slavery time and pity the laborers of 

 Europe because they are compelled to 

 work long hours at certain seasons of 

 the year, while at the same time some 

 Americans make slaves of themselves 

 and work overtime every day in the 

 year. The only distinction in this 

 case is that the latter do this by choice. 



We are so often answered, when 

 speaking to overworked men on the ad- 

 vantage of having a hobby, that " their 

 business kept them too busy to attempt 

 it, etc.^^ Now, this is not always the 

 case. Many business men could ar- 

 range very well that a small portion of 

 each day was set aside for recreation of 

 some kind. 



We know of nothing more soothing 

 to overtaxed nerves than the cultiva- 

 tion of plants, flowers and the aqua- 

 rium. It is an occupation for which 

 no man is too high nor too low. Gen- 

 eral Field Marshal Moltke, the great 

 German strategist, found time to culti- 

 vate roses. Frederick III., the father 



of the present German Emperor, when 

 yet Crown Prince, bred and raised 

 Paradise fish in his private aquariums. 

 Lord Russell, for many years Ambassa- 

 dor to ^ Germany, devoted every day 

 an hour or so to his aquariums, which 

 were famous. The late celebrated 

 electrician, Siemens, and the late Prof. 

 Dr. Billroth, of Vienna, a surgeon of 

 world-wide fame, both cultivated the 

 aquarium. This list could be extended, 

 but these few examples will illustrate 

 how interesting and healthful this par- 

 ticular hobby must be when such men 

 found it worth their while to culti- 

 vate it. 



On the other hand this occuj^ation is 

 a very agreeable pastime to ladies of 

 cultivated taste and leisure and also to 

 invalids. 



"Nothing harmonizes and adorns 

 the mind more surely than a taste for 

 ornamental gardening and aquarium 

 culture. It compels the reason to act 

 and the judgment to observe, it is 

 favorable to meditation, it exercises the 

 fancy and braces the system by its 

 healthful tendency. 



*' A flower garden and an aquarium 

 for the young act upon the heart and 

 affections as a nursery acts upon the 

 matronly feelings. It attaches them to 

 their home ; it throws a powerful charm 

 over the spot dedicated to such deeply 

 interesting employment, and it lures 

 them from dwelling too deeply upon 

 the unavoidable disappointments and 

 trials of life which sooner or later dis- 

 quiet the heart. '^ 



When one has concluded to have an 

 aquarium it is not at all necessary to 

 buy an expensive tank of a dealer ; on 

 the contrary it affords so much more 

 pleasure and satisfaction when one has 

 made his own tank. 



Of the different shapes used for an 



