iv Preface 



plants best adapted to confinement and 

 home cultivation, and to observe some sim- 

 ple rules as to their treatment. 



The present book is the result of the care- 

 ful collaboration of a professional aquarist 

 and a very enthusiastic amateur. While 

 the professional aquarist gives his experi- 

 ences collected through a quarter of a cen- 

 tury in an extensive business, offering" the 

 best opportunity for observing fishes, am- 

 phibians and aquatic plants, both as to their 

 habits and their merits for the aquarium, the 

 amateur adds the result of his observation 

 in forest and glen, and his experience under 

 the often trying home conditions which pre- 

 vail with the average amateur aquarist. 

 We have enlarged and elaborated our own 

 experiences and observations by selecting 

 the best from the material of well known 

 and recognized authorities on the subject. 



We feel our purpose of stimulating inter- 

 est in the aquarium, with all its wonderful 

 vegetable and animal life, can not be fur- 

 thered better than by reducing to a mini- 

 mum the difficulties of its care. We have 

 simplified therefore as much as possible the 



