270 DEATH. 



Eeplace the plants and animals, reserving those pieces 

 of rook, or those shells, which look suspicious, which 

 may he kept in a howl of water hy themselves for a 

 few days, till their state appears more fully. 



This process of bringing every drop of the water 

 into contact with the atmosphere, is an effectual re- 

 medy for destroying the tendency to putrefaction; 

 as the animal fluids and solids held in suspension 

 enter into combination with the oxygen of the air, 

 and form the pure innocuous gas called ozone. The 

 result will he that the milkiness will rapidly disap- 

 pear ; the water will assume a transparent clearness, 

 which will in all probability he permanent ; the plants 

 will thrive, and the animals will he lively. 



Occasional Death. — It will still he needful to 

 exercise a watchful supervision of the collection. It 

 must be remembered that both the animals and plants 

 are not in their natural circumstances, and that a 

 certain amount of violence is done to their habits- 

 Death, which spares them not at the bottom of the 

 sea, will visit them in the Aquarium ; and hence the 

 vessel should be occasionally looked over, searched, 

 as it were, to see if there be any of the specimens 

 dead. If the plants show the orange hue, already 

 spoken of (See ante, p. 25J, they must betaken up, 

 and the diseased parts cut clean away. Dead ani- 

 mals must be at once removed, or contamination will 

 soon result. The eye will soon recognise the indivi- 

 duals, and will miss the familiar forms ; but you 

 must not too hastily conclude that an animal^ which 

 you have been accustomed to see playing about, is 

 dead, because you have not observed it for some days 



