THE FLOWER-GARDEN. 



Aponogeton distachyon, although usually a large 

 and unwieldy plant, is admirably adapted for 

 such cases. In addition to the plants, gold- 

 fishes, sticklebacks, and other small fishes may 

 be introduced even the lamprey, perch, and 

 pike, if the aquarium be large enough ; together 

 with fresh-water mollusca such as species 

 of Cyclas, Planorbis, Limneus, and Physa. The 

 mollusca multiply to a great extent, affording 

 food for the fishes. The plants consume the 

 carbonic acid produced by the animals, appro- 

 priating the carbon, and setting free the oxygen 

 in a gaseous state, again to support animal life. 

 It is a great mistake to suppose that a large vessel 



Fig- 9- 



is required. We have already mentioned inciden- 

 tally that aquatic plants may be grown well in an 

 ordinary fish-globe ; and the above wood-cut repre- 

 sents a simple form of aquarium, measuring about 

 eight inches across, which affords ample accom- 

 modation for water-plants, such as Callitriche, 

 Vallisneria, Anacharis, minute Algae, &c. with 

 mollusca, hydras, cyclops, and other small animal 

 forms ; and a series of vases of this kind will be 

 found more useful by the microscopical observer 

 than an aquarium of larger size. Where, how- 

 ever, it is the object to study the habits of fishes 

 and the larger plants, an aquarium of several feet 

 in length, and corresponding depth of water, must 

 be obtained. 



Even more interesting than the ordinary 

 aquarium is the marine vivarium, in which are 

 introduced, in wa-water, the beautiful red and 

 green sea-weeds, corallines, fishes, marine mollusks, 

 nudibranchs those graceful ferns of the animal 

 kingdom star-fishes, sea-mice, sea-anemones of 

 varied form and hue, and all the other exquisite 

 forms of life that swarm in old Ocean's caves. In 

 forming the vivarium, sea-weeds must be pro- 

 cured, attached to a portion of their native rock. 

 Where animals have to be taken to a great dis- 

 tance, they are frequently more safely conveyed 

 in moist sea-weed than in sea-water itself. In 

 March 1856, we spent a pleasant afternoon on the 

 shores of the Isle of Wight, and got some prizes 

 in the way of nudibranchiate Mollusca ; these 

 were hastily placed in a botanical vasculum among 

 some sea-weed. We crossed to Portsmouth, took 

 the night-mail to London, arrived at Waterloo 

 Bridge at four in the morning, took a peep at the 

 smouldering ruins of Covent Garden Theatre, left 



our card at Bedford Square for a friend with 

 whom we had promised to dine on our way north, 

 took train at Euston Square at six, and finally 

 reached Edinburgh at ten o'clock the same night. 

 We opened our box, and the nudibranchs were all 

 alive ! those fragile things, that the merest touch 

 of a finger seemed sufficient to destroy. They 

 were placed in our vivarium, and thus had we the 

 pleasure of examining their beautiful forms, and 

 studying their habits, as well as if the Isle of 

 Wight, with its fertile shores, had been brought 

 into the Firth of Forth. 



GARDEN-PLOTS IN TOWNS. 



The attempt to have a neat and flourishing 

 garden or garden-plot in populous towns is very 

 often defeated by the abundance of smoke and 

 other impurities in the atmosphere ; for, as re- 

 peatedly mentioned, pure air is essential to the 

 proper growth of plants. It is found, however, 

 from experience, that certain kinds of shrubs and 

 flowering herbs are less delicate in this respect 

 than others ; and that, with a reasonable degree 

 of care, open plots in towns may be made to yield 

 a surface of vegetable bloom and beauty. On 

 this branch of flower-culture, so important to many 

 town-residents, there appeared some years since 

 a well- written paper in The Magazine of Domestic 

 Economy, describing the experience of an amateur 

 florist. We take the liberty of extracting from it 

 the following passages : ' When I first took pos- 

 session of my garden [in town], I found it encum- 

 bered with old lilacs and laburnums, the common 

 aster, and other ordinary plants. These I imme- 

 diately removed : by my west wall I planted a 

 Buddlea globosa and a Virginian creeper ; and 

 by my south wall, which was partly covered by 

 a vine, I planted the Jasminum revolutum, the 

 small white clematis, and the Pyrus Japonica. 

 The last grew luxuriantly, and bore an abundance 

 of flowers, which, glowing upon the light wall, 

 enlivened my prospect in winter. I had much of 

 the south sun in my garden, but none of his morn- 

 ing beams reached it, and there was a corner 

 which never had a gleam at all. In this spot I 

 planted a quantity of roots of the lily of the valley, 

 and they flowered well, although late. The laurus- 

 tine also grew well with me ; and 1 should strongly 

 recommend this pretty shrub, together with the 

 laurel, instead of those deciduous shrubs which 

 we see in town-gardens. Besides this, the untidy 

 appearance of their falling leaves is a great annoy- 

 ance. My jasmine grew quickly, and, with the 

 clematis, soon covered as much wall as I could 

 afford to them. The common Provence roses, 

 both white and red, flower well in the town ; 

 but it is vain to attempt the China it requires a 

 very pure air. I have tried many other roses, and 

 found the Tuscan, the rose de Meaux, the Tudor, 

 the little early crimson, ^nd . the Bengal celestial, 

 flower extremely well. 



'With regard to spring-flowers, the snowdrop 

 I could not tolerate in the city the smoke robbed 

 it of all its beauty ; the crocus, either the mice or 

 the sparrows would not leave undisturbed ; and 

 after replenishing the edge of my border several 

 times, I gave up the matter. The hepatica and 

 gentianella flowered well with me ; anemones 

 also I had of very good colours. Heart's-eases 

 pined away after the first year, but they were 



575 



