housekeeping. Bits sink below them and 

 stay, which would otherwise whirl about 

 constantly and spoil all. By spring there 

 will be quite a deposit of dock-mud 

 under these stones. 



A bridge, to make pretty shadows and 

 variety of outline, is now built in the 

 middle with three stones selected for the 

 purpose : two solid supports tapering up- 

 ward a bit, and a flattish stone for the 

 lintel. They are moss-grown by pref- 

 erence, and all the moss has been care- 

 fully rinsed in salt water to get rid of 

 clinging impurities and small animals 

 which might die and make trouble. We 

 sometimes put in a little ruined castle of 

 baked clay instead of a bridge ; and it 

 was rather pretty to see the minnows 

 swim in and out at the windows, and 

 to see the enteromorpha come on it like 

 the first blush of spring, in a flat green 

 growth with the effect of Japanese ivy, 

 (which was not heard of in those days), 

 then in a short green fringe, until by 

 spring we had streams of enteromorpha 

 an inch long waving from the tiny battle- 

 ments and roofless arcades. But you 

 could never see what was going on in the 

 dark depths of the tower, and so we pre- 

 ferred the bridge. 



This matter settled, the ocean floor 

 adorned and completed with judicious 

 groups of green weed on stones, the ex- 

 press is anxiously awaited. He is de- 

 tailed to bring the salt water dispatched 

 by another detail, who has been charged 

 on his life to take it from Coloncester 

 outer harbor on the Hood tide. In this 

 case of an extra large tank, the water 

 arrives in two three-gallon jugs. Anxiety 

 is relieved and the expressman too, who 

 does i^ot seem much pleased with his job ; 

 but no matter ! the water is here. — "On 

 with the dance !" says he, "and all forces 

 line up, to 'ease that there water out of 

 them there jugs.' " 



That safely accomplished, the tank is 

 full, less an inch or two, and a high- 

 water mark is carefully pasted outside. 

 Since the water will be constantly evap- 

 orating, it would soon become too salt, 

 and must be kept up to its original level 

 by the addition of pure fresh water, 

 whenever it is seen to be at all below. 

 This matter of evaporation on a large 

 scale is little appreciated except in the 

 coldest weather when the harbor steams 



like a cauldron, before freezing ; and not 

 only the harbor, but the water outside, to 

 such an extent that the wind thence driv- 

 ing over the land will fill the air with 

 hoar-frost, equal to a snow-squall, with 

 the sun shining. We seldom see that 

 now, the winters are so much milder 

 than when we were children. No sledding 

 on the ice down to "the top of the Point" 

 now ! 



An old market fisherman was rowing 

 into Harbor Cove in his dory one day at 

 noon, among the vessels lying hidden to 

 the mast head in vapor, and somebody 

 hailed from one of them to know if he 

 had a good catch. "Oh, no!" said he. 

 "Fish never bite in the heat of the day." 

 It is hard to believe that the evaporation 

 is even greater in summer, but licked up 

 by the warm air and made invisible. 



The aquarium must be filled with air- 

 bubbles, too, by dint of vigorous syring- 

 ing twice a day with the window open. 

 Take a common syringe with a plunger 

 and draw it full of the salt water. Then 

 hold it some inches above the surface 

 and send it back, repeating for several 

 minutes. The minnows whirl about tail 

 first, and everything in the aquarium Has 

 difliculty in holding its hair on, but it is 

 good for one and all, this mimic surf. 

 Then skim out all impurities that have 

 risen to the surface and all broken weed, 

 and feed the animals who now believe 

 the tide has turned, and expect it to bring 

 them something good. 



But we forget there is nothing in the 

 aquarium at present but weed and water. 

 Leave it so for a day, aerating as above 

 described, and then add the animals by 

 degrees, first anemones and limpets, the 

 more active last. The minnows need not 

 be ordered for a week, and then anyone 

 who can stand shrimps jumping up her 

 sleeves can send for some and put them 

 in. They are so ghostly, however, and 

 so marvelous plain of feature, we never 

 tried them more than once. 



The anemones roll about for a time, 

 wrong side up, before spinning their 

 thread-like hawsers to anchor afresh. 

 They can move when they choose, either 

 walking along on one surface by grad- 

 ually extending one edge while contract- 

 ing the opposite one, or detaching them- 

 selves bodily and floating off. Their 

 ])rcfercnccs are not always yours, and the 



\m 



