IO 



SCIENTIFIC RECREATIONS. 



threw a handful of water lentils on the surface ; thus a comfortable home 

 was contrived for all the captured animals.* The aquarium, when placed 

 under the shade of a fine tree in a rustic spot abounding with field flowers, 

 became a favourite rendezvous, and we often took pleasure in watching the 

 antics of the little inmates (fig. 3). Sometimes we beheld very sanguinary 

 scenes ; the voracious hydrophilus would seize a poor defenceless tadpole, 

 and rend him in pieces for a meal without any compunction. The more 



Fig. 5. Small aquarium, with frogs' ladder. 



robust tritons defended themselves better, but sometimes they also succumbed 

 in the struggle. 



The success of the aquarium was so complete that one of us resolved to 

 continue this museum in miniature, and one day provided himself with an 

 insects palace, which nearly made us forget the tadpoles and tritons. It was 

 a charming little cage, having the form of a house, covered with a roof; 



* It frequently happens that in a small aquarium, constructed after this fashion, the 

 animals escape. This is avoided by covering the vase with a net. 



