aquatic iLitt 



53 



may not be broken with impunity. 



Thus aquariculture from a mere pas- 

 time may be elevated to an educational 

 medium of the first magnitude. For this 

 reason no public school should be with- 

 out an aquarium. It will prove an in- 

 valuable aid to instruction in natural 

 history, and obviously the more so in 

 connection with the use of the micro- 

 scope. 



Now, in conclusion, we will not omit 

 to point out the advantages every pro- 

 fessional microscopist would derive from 

 keeping a self-sustaining aquarium. 

 Every scientist and microscopist should 

 become a practical aquarist and keep his 

 own "home pond." It will enable him to 

 keep and cultivate for an indefinite time 

 at least some of the material collected, 

 having it at hand not only in season, but 

 also out of season ; and explorations in 

 his home tank may be made to yield more 

 surprises than many an excursion for 

 collecting purposes in the open, often 

 thus saving much valuable time. The 

 habits and life-history of many subjects, 

 such as Daphnia, Cyclops, Cypris, 

 Plumatclla and all kinds of algae could 

 not be studied better and more conven- 

 iently than in a real self-sustaining 

 aquarium. A microscopist, after owning 

 an aquarium, will have no more cause 

 for the old complaint : "Of all the in- 

 teresting things described in books I can 

 find little or nothing myself." He will 

 enjoy the same pleasures as the aquarist 

 who adopted the use of the microscope 

 in connection with aquariculture ; he will 

 always be able to make observations at 

 first hand, thus enlarging his practical 

 knowledge, and soon both will become 

 convinced that microscopy and aquarian 

 nature-study go hand in hand and are but 

 two ways leading to the same goal. 



A "Tin Can" Aquarium 



HARRY W. BALLEISEN 



Modesto, in a past number of Aquatic 

 Life, tells us how we may make a very 

 attractive aquarium from a cigar box. 

 Now some aquarists criticize wood as 

 material for a tank, and for them we 

 present an improvisation that has surely 

 greater strength and durability, even 

 though it may not lend itself to a finish 

 equal to wood. We refer to a tank made 

 from a square or rectangular can such as 



A noise like ready money will wake a 

 man when an alarm clock fails. 



that in which varnish is sold. In the 

 tank illustrated in course of construction, 

 the top of the can, showing the handle 

 and spout, has not been removed in that 

 the idea may be better grasped. 



The first step is to punch four holes, 

 about an eighth of an inch in diameter, in 

 the corners of the five sides of the can, 

 from which panels are to be removed. 

 With a scratch-awl and rule draw lines 

 connecting the holes, thus indicating the 

 panels. The position of the holes will, of 

 course, dictate the width of the frame. 



Take a sharp can-opener, and it is es- 

 sential that it be sharp to make a smooth 

 edge, and cut out carefully the largest 

 panel — that which will be the front or top 

 of the aquarium, then the two narrower 

 ones, the top and bottom of the can, 

 which will form the ends of the tank, be- 

 ing left to the last. In so proceeding 



