CHEAP AQUARIUM. 



37 



only is occupied with plate glass, which is let in by a 

 kind of " rabbit and bead," as carpenters call it. The 

 whole of the interior of the woodwork, back, bottom, 



Fig. 2. 



Cheap Portable Fresh-water or Marine Tank. 



and sides, is then coated with pitch to the thickness 

 ; of about one-eighth of an inch. Hot pitch is also run 

 I into the "rabbit," and the plate-glass front pressed 

 well against and into it. If a wide beading is then run 

 all round the top, the aquarium will be completed. 

 Thus constructed, the whole expense will not exceed 

 14^. or 15.$-. Before stocking it with animals and 

 plants, the tank should be seasoned in rain water for 

 a week or two ; and can then be used without any fear 

 of leakage or harm. A costlier method of constructing 

 a tank on the same pattern is to have the bottom, 

 back, and sides of slate, instead of wood, with a plate- 

 glass front as before. 



There can be no doubt that aquaria with flat 

 sides are much better than round bell-shaped glasses. 

 They do not distort the objects when moving about, 



