RIVER GARDENS ; 



Gold fish. They are torpid in winter ; and it is their 

 habit to make their way to the sea to spawn towards 

 August, when they will leave the ponds and travel 

 for miles over the meadows to reach their desti- 

 nation. At the time that the young fry ascend the 

 rivers towards the fresh waters, vast shoals of them 

 have sometimes been observed. The passage of young 

 Eels up the Thames at that season, as Yarrell informs 

 us, is an extraordinary sight. Above 1800 per 

 minute, averaging about three inches long, have 

 been known to pass a given point. This passage of 

 the young Eels, says the same writer, is called Eel 

 Fare, from the old Saxon word, to travel, or pass. 

 From this migratory habit it is evident that at 

 a certain season the pet Eel will escape from 

 the Aquarium, and most likely come to some un- 

 timely end, unless the requisite precautions be 

 taken. 



Among the smaller kinds of fish, I have tried 

 the Loach, or Beardie (Cobitis barbatula), in an 

 Aquarium, and found the species bear confinement 

 well. It would be worth while to observe very 

 carefully the movements of this little fish, as it is 

 said that by them the changes in the weather may 

 be ascertained as readily as by a weather-glass. 

 At certain periods I have, indeed, noticed that it 



