14 



Aquatic JLitt 



apparent should the apparatus break at 

 any point, for otherwise the whole of 

 the water may be syphoned out of the 

 aquarium by the longer tube. The ves- 

 sel and pipes can be effectively hidden by 

 a clump of plants. 



If instead of metal, the heater and 

 pipes are constructed of glass, a protect- 

 ing vessel is not so necessary. 



The Hudson Society 



The Hudson County Aquarium So- 

 ciety was organized on June 30th, the 

 following officers being elected: Presi- 

 dent, H. A. Van Cott ; Vice-president, W. 

 J. Wright; Secretary, G. C. Albietz; 

 Treasurer, F. W. Hedden. 



An effort is being made to secure per- 

 mission from the Jersey City Commis- 

 sion to hold the regular meetings in the 

 Public Library building. Present indica- 

 tions point to a favorable decision. In 

 the interval regular meetings will be held 

 on the fourth Thursday of each month 

 at the home of the treasurer. A public 

 exhibition will be given during Septem- 

 ber. 



The society will be glad to have the 

 aquarists of adjacent towns become 

 members. Communications should be 

 addressed to the writer at 517 Avenue E, 

 Bayonne, N. J.— G. C. Albietz. 



While at a large breeding establish- 

 ment I noticed a little goldfish of strange 

 appearance breathing at the surface. 

 Upon examination I found it to be com- 

 pletely disembowelled. The owner told 

 me that half an hour before he had re- 

 moved from it a large insect enemy. 

 From the description I imagine it was. a 

 "water tiger," the most predaceous of 

 goldfish enemies. I was sorry not to be 

 able to examine the animal, as the 

 "tigers" are only supposed to suck the 

 blood of victims through their hollow 

 mandibles. In any case the surgery must 



have been neatly performed, for the fish 

 to be living half an hour later. Ordi- 

 narily they will succumb to apparently 

 far less serious injury. Of course it 

 could not have existed much longer, so 

 the merciful owner killed it. The fish 

 was about ten weeks old, which empha- 

 sizes that we should not relax our vigi- 

 lance against enemies as soon as the fish 

 develop a little size. — William T. 

 Innls. 



(Concluded from Page 4) 

 it forms quite dense masses and does 

 not possess particularly large bladders. 

 These are not large enough to entrap 

 the comparatively small fry of Osphro- 

 menus trichopteris, judging from the 

 number the writer has bred in an aquar- 

 ium in which it nearly covered the sur- 

 face to a depth of two inches. The late 

 William E. Walp was fond of using it to 

 catch goldfish spawn. A good test of the 

 two methods could be made by using 

 Myriophyllum and comparing results. 

 Leaving aside the possibility of the fry 

 being caught in the bladders, the critical 

 period seems to be during incubation. If 

 this is so, the sterilization of the water, 

 which was re-oxygenated in the act of 

 pouring it into the jar, would go far to- 

 ward eliminating spores of Saprolegnia 

 (fungus) and other organisms which 

 might be detrimental. — Editor.) 



Recently Putter has maintained that 

 fishes absorb food in solution in the 

 water. He found that a goldfish lived 

 for forty-one days in tap water which 

 contained no organized food and the 

 oxygen consumed substantially accounted 

 for the loss in weight. When organic 

 substances were dissolved in the tap 

 water, the goldfish survived for seventy- 

 eight days, and the oxygen consumed 

 greatly exceeded the amount that would 

 account for the loss in weight. — ElGLN- 



MANN, 



