IV. 



THE AQUARIUM. 



" No time" says a distinguished naturalist, "can be 

 more advantageously, and at the same time more inno- 

 cently, employed than that which is devoted to the 

 study of Natural History." This is particularly true in 

 regard to children, who have an inborn tendency to 

 find pleasure in observing the habits of animals. Airiest 

 and sprightliest of creatures himself, a boy will watch 

 with intense delight the gambols of a kitten, or the 

 graceful movements of a flock of pigeons wheeling 

 about in the air. Oblivious of hunger and thirst, he will 

 follow a squirrel from tree to tree, and at last return pant- 

 ing to relate what capital fun he had. It is much to be 

 deplored that this bent of the juvenile mind is not 

 properly directed, and that greater attention is not best- 

 owed upon the development of the faculties of accurate 

 observation. There are various ways in which this can 

 be accomplished. In other civilized countries, parents 

 take their children to zoological gardens and museums, 

 where the young ones make early acquaintance with 

 various kinds of animals from different parts of the world. 

 They are imperceptibly led to compare living forms and 

 study their characters. Nutting and shell-gathering are 

 foreign to us, and we have no idea of the mirth, enjoy- 

 ment and lessons of these healthful excursions. There, 

 children are encouraged and helped to make their own 



