FISH-BREEDING. 483 



THE AQUAEIUM. 



Five or six years since quite a sensation was produced 

 by this novel sort of fish-cage. It is simply ^ tank with 

 glass sides, and a wooden, stone, or cast-iron bottom. It 

 is supplied to the depth of three or four inches with gravel 

 or sand, and aquatic plants tastefully introduced in groups. 

 The latter are not intended as an ornament only, but to keep 

 the water pure and the fish healthy by the oxygen which 

 they give off, while the carbonic acid exhaled by the fish 

 promotes the growth of the plants. 



The most convenient size I have found to be one of thirty 

 inches in length, sixteen wide, and sixteen deep, which 

 will hold nearly thirty gallons of water, -and is large enough 

 to sustain sixteen or eighteen fish from three to five inches 

 long. There is no ornament more beautiful than a well-kept 

 Aquarium. It furnishes a fine opportunity for a display of 

 delicate taste in the arrangement of plants, shells, and minia- 

 ture grottos. It is always a source of amusement and won- 

 derment to children, and furnishes an opportunity on a small 

 scale for studying the habits and dispositions of fish. Bar- 

 num's fish-tanks, at his Museum in New York, are well 

 worth the observation and study of anglers and naturalists. 

 Those who would establish one on scientific principles, should 

 procure Mr. Arthur N. Edwards's little book, called " Life 

 beneath the Waters." 



Any glass vessel of sufficient capacity will answer for a 

 tank, if the bottom is wide enough to set out plants in it. 



