60 



Aquatic ILitt 



Cyperus papyrus, tall ; Swamp iris, sun- 

 dry kinds and colors. Plants growing 

 above the water but decumbent — trail- 

 ing over the sides of the tank : Myrio- 

 phyllum preserpinacoides. Parrot's 

 Feather, beautiful greenish-blue spruce- 

 like foliage, which closes at night and 

 reopens in the morning; Lysimachia 

 nummular ia, common moneywort; hud- 



Male Paradise Fish Building Nest 



wigia mullertti, too well-known to need 

 comment. Submerged plants : Sagittaria, 

 fine-leaved species; Vallisneria spiralis; 

 Heteranthera sosteraefolia, lilac colored 

 flowers born above water ; Isoetes, vari- 

 ous species ; Cryptocoryne griffithi, red 

 flowers above water ; Fontinalis gracilis. 

 Plants to float upon the water ; Riccia 

 fluitans, floating liverwort ; Salvinia na- 

 tans, a f ernwort ; Pistia stratiotes, water 

 lettuce; Ceratopteris thalictroides, the 

 water-fern. 



The over-water plants, those thrusting 

 their leaves above the water, should be 

 sprinkled frequently to remove the dust. 



A rubber sprinkler should be used hold- 

 ing the stems together to prevent the 

 water falling beyond the limits of the 

 tank. In this way, too, water lost by 

 evaporation is replaced. Swamp plants 

 take up great quantities of water, espe- 

 cially when accorded the abundant sun- 

 shine which they need to flourish. 



I am well aware that many swamp 

 plant aquaria have been established, and 

 have been failures. Usually this is due 

 to poor, shallow soil, lack of abundant 

 sunshine, and neglect to sprinkle the 

 plants. Plants other than those which 

 grow submerged breathe through sto- 

 mata or pores usually to be found most 

 abundantly on the under sides of the 

 leaves, but also on the upper. If these 

 pores are clogged with dust the plant 

 cannot flourish. 



The appropriateness of the swamp 

 plant aquarium in the living room has 

 been questioned, but if arranged and 

 maintained properly, it will be as sani- 

 tary as ithat with only submerged 

 plants and fishes, and will be much more 

 beautiful and interesting. 



As the high honor in contests of 

 aquaria and fishes it has become the cus- 

 tom to award a silver cup. It makes 

 quite a pretentious prize at a slight ex- 

 pense ; a good-sized cup can be bought 

 for a few dollars. Having no utilitarian 

 value, the novelty of exhibiting the prize 

 sooner or later wears off, and it goes 

 into the discard. Would it not be better 

 if articles of serviceable kind were used 

 instead of the cup? Among many other 

 things a silver bread tray suggests itself, 

 and has the advantage of a large surface 

 on which to engrave a suitable inscrip- 

 tion. This would make a very desirable 

 prize, and could be used on the table of 

 the winner every day in the year. It 

 will not be hard to compile a lengthy 

 list of articles, all of them of a more 

 practical nature to the winner than the 

 hackneyed silver-plated cup. — Aqua-Pet. 



