28 



ftquatic liitt 



People can stand a lot of hardship and 

 discomfort if only they are gifted with 

 a sense of humor. The other night a 

 Third avenue car was crowded to the 

 gills, as is usual at the rush hour, and had 

 arrived at the congested condition in 

 which the last arrivals were standing on 

 the bottom step, holding on to the gates. 

 Passengers were wedged like sardines in 

 a can, and in no very good humor about 

 it, either. 



At the last stop the conductor decided 

 to add to his load, and a woman climbed 

 aboard carrying a bowl of goldfish and a 

 child. The bowl was half full of water, 

 and a half-dozen fish were swimming 

 about in it, and the woman held on to all 

 this patiently, while she steered the child 

 and wedged into the seething mass of hu- 

 manity. You wouldn't believe that she 

 could keep the bowl of fish in that jam 

 for two minutes, yet she rode three un- 

 ruffled miles in great calmness of spirit, 

 without spilling either the fish or the 

 water. 



A fat man laughed and squeezed over 

 an inch or two; a workman got off his 

 neighbor's foot and allowed the bank 

 clerk to give up an inch and three-quar- 

 ters ; everybody moved over a bit and 

 grinned, and pretty soon the woman had 

 a clear space, around her, she and the 

 goldfish and the child, and everybody 

 was smiling and feeling pretty good 

 about it, too. She hung on to the con- 

 ductor's cash box with one hand, the 

 goldfish with the other, and the child fed 

 the fish all the way home. 



But, of course, nobody could expect 

 the company to furnish a goldfish party 

 every rush hour to take the gloom out of 

 the straphanger's life. — Seattle Post- 

 Intelligencer. 



♦ 



A popular globe-trotter ; tbe common 

 goldfish. 



Our old friend, Ben Fogel, sends the 

 following set of rules which he thinks 

 seem to govern the deportment of some 

 members of aquarium societies : 



i. Don't come to the meetings. 



2. But if you do come, come late. 



3. If the weather does not suit you, 

 don't think of coming. 



4. If you do attend a meeting, find 

 fault with the work of the officers and 

 members. 



5. Never accept an office, as it is easier 

 to criticise than to work. 



6. Nevertheless, get sore if you are not 

 appointed on a committee, but if you are, 

 do not attend the committee meetings. 



7. If asked by the presiding officer to 

 give your opinion regarding some import- 

 ant matter mumble that you have nothing 

 to say. After the meeting tell everybody 

 how it should have been done. 



8. Do nothing more than is absolutely 

 necessary, but when other members roll 

 up their sleeves and willingly and unself- 

 ishly use their ability to help matters 

 along, howl that the society is run by a 

 clique. 



8. Hold back your dues as long as pos- 

 sible, or don't pay at all. 



10. Don't bother about getting new 

 members. "Let George do it." 



The preferable time to collect wild 

 fishes is during the autumn months. Tbe 

 breeding season has passed and activities 

 principally concern a full stomach. Fishes 

 taken now are more readily accustomed 

 to the conditions of confinement than 

 spring or summer catches. The black- 

 nosed dace and some sunfishes, especially 

 if the last be quite small, are worth a trial 

 in your community aquarium. 



The "blue poecilia" of the aquarist is 

 Limia caudofosciota. Why not call a 

 spade a spade ? 



