14 THE HISTORY OF AQUARIA. 



his own experience in keeping a fresh-water aqua- 

 rium. It was of a very simple and unpretending 

 character, and differed little from that to which Pepys 

 refers in his ' Diary/ consisting merely of a glass globe 

 of fresh water in which two goldfishes had been 

 placed, together with some plants of Valisneria. The 

 latter is one of the best oxygen-producers of all 

 known aquatic plants, and has long been a favourite 

 with aquarium keepers. By-and-by, Mr. Warington 

 introduced some pond snails to eat away the green 

 algae which formed along the inner surface of the 

 glass. Two years afterwards, he and Mr. Gosse ex- 

 perimented after a similar fashion with sea water. 

 This was the commencement of that rage for small 

 marine aquaria which shortly afterwards set in. Tanks 

 were constructed for the purpose, and marine animals 

 and plants introduced in such proportions as were 

 hoped to neutralise each other's respiration. 



The most marked epoch in the history of the 

 marine aquarium, however, undoubtedly took place 

 when Mr. Philip Henry Gosse's most charming books 

 made their appearance. Their attractive style of 

 description of the lovely objects which are to be 

 found in the commonest rock-pools of our coasts, 

 and which it is possible to preserve to constantly 

 delight the eye, induced hundreds of people to com- 

 mence aquarium keeping. Never before had the 

 common objects of the seaside found a historian at 

 once so charming and so accurate. And although, 





