CuapTer XI, 
SUNDRY DIRECTIONS. 
At what season of the year is an aquarium most desir- 
able? The aquarium has no winter, it is in this respect much 
like a conservatory, it is cheerful during a prolonged season of 
rough weather, but it is better than a conservatory, because 
its cooling, refreshing effect cheers us equally well during a 
dry, hot spell in summer, when just the contrary is the case 
with the conservatory. This advantage is fully appreciated by 
many who, through circumstances, have to spend the summer 
in the city. In addition to the summer scenery with which 
the aquarium delights us during winter time when in our 
home, it benefits the sanitary conditions of the apartments 
that it adorns through its purifying influence on the atmos- 
phere. The great faculty of the water to absorb purifies the 
air we breathe, and the evaporation from the tank relieves 
the air of the uncomfortable dryness caused by our modern 
heating apparatus. 
Parties who close their house during the summer may keep 
their goldfish in a basin of larger surface than the aquarium, 
sunk in the garden, here forming a miniature lake. Such a 
basin may be constructed of cemented masonry or wood, sim- 
ilar to one described for a store-tank, but twelve inches deep, 
Its location should be partly sunny, morning sun preferable, 
and it should be furnished with sand, rocks and plants, the 
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