CHAPTER IV. 



CONCERNING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 

 PLANTS SELECTED EOR THE 

 AQUARIUM. 



order that one about to establish an 

 Lquarium may be able to form a tole- 

 ,ably accurate idea of the plants, from 

 among which he is about to select the 

 j ornaments of his aquatic garden, it will 

 be necessary to give some further ac- 

 count of the most remarkable of those 

 named in the lists contained in the last chapter. 



Of the plants growing in the water, which are 

 the most important to an Aquarium, in conse- 

 quence of their aerating qualities, the first on the 

 list is the Great Water Plantain. Its botanical 

 name, Alisma, signifies a dweller in the water. 

 "When finely grown, in a favourable situation, it is 

 one of the most stately of our water plants, and is 

 consequently too large for a very small Aquarium; 

 but it is remarkably handsome, and very suitable 

 where there is sufficient room for its display. The 

 Alisma natans is a swimming or rather floating water 



