THE MARINE AQUARIUM. 145 



ncs," mentions that he several times attempted to force 

 them to catch and devour crabs and. shrimps, but in no 

 single instance succeeded. 



When I feed the animals in my tank, it is a continual 

 warfare between different species ; between the stronger 

 and the weaker, until every morsel of eatable matter is 

 consumed. Just now, I caught two flics, and crushing 

 them between my finger and thumb below water, so as to 

 remove the air that the bodies might contain, I brought 

 one down with a slender rod of wood near to an anemone, 

 intending it for him, as he cannot travel in search of food, 

 but like a child, requires to be fed ; I had got it nearly 

 to his open and expectant arms, when snap, presto 1 in 

 clashed an impudent diminutive minnow and bore off 

 the prize, but which was too large for him to swallow all 

 at once. Now began the battle between the ten or fifteen 

 minnows in the tank for the dainty bit, one of them 

 " bolted " (I use this word for want of one that would 

 better express the velocity with which it was engulfed in 

 his capacious jaws) the first of the flies. 1 introduced 

 another, and this time the head was torn from the body, 

 and borne away in the jaws of a juvenile victor minnow, 

 who did not measure above three-quarters of an inch from 

 head to tail ; he found, however, the eyes too tough for 

 his young gums, and so cast it loose again, when it was 

 taken hold of by an enterprising shrimp, who fell to, 

 heartily, upon it. In the meantime^ the other part of the 

 fly having fallen between the glass and a stone, escaped 

 the notice of the minnows, but was taken possession of by 

 a large shrimp, who soon had to relinquish it to a small 



