THE AQUARIUM. 
CONDUCTED BY HUGO MULERTT. 
(The Editor of this Department will cheerfully answer all queries relative to the conduct of Aquaria.] 
THE WATER CABINET. 
The aquarium has not only spread abroad a 
love for natural history; it has also increased 
the facilities for the study of Nature by remov- 
ing the difficulties which have hitherto attended 
the preservation, for any length of time, of liv- 
ing specimens of aquatic life. The tank had 
scarcely taken its place among the resources 
for pleasurable recreation and scientific study 
when the field of culture extended itself, and 
every variety of minute life found in the waters 
came to have its share of attention for the gen- 
eral profit and delight of the studious. The 
ordinary tank was found insufficient for the 
wants of the aquarist, and, wherever a large 
vessel was to be seen stocked with fresh-water 
fishes or marine objects, a collection of small 
jars, phials or show glasses was pretty sure to 
be found also. 
In an aquarium we may group together rmany 
dissimilar objects, but it must be evident to the 
most superficial observer that, when immersed 
in a large body of water with other creatures, 
many objects are ill placed for examination, 
especially if we use the microscope. Hence, 
where the study is pursued with any degree ot 
ardor, some special arrangements are neces- 
sary to enable us to keep in a healthy state, 
and in a way that admits a close scrutiny at 
any moment, such of the smaller aquatic ob- 
jects as most commend themselves for beauty 
or scientific interest. 
Many beginners, unable to resist the temp- 
tation of a jar of beetles or a collection of larva, 
and having no other means of keeping them, 
have placed them in the tank to mingle with 
the stock of finny creatures, and have thereby 
either lost the better part of the collection or 
have been compelled to break up the stock and 
begin anew. A few species of water beetles 
and aquatic larva may be safely preserved.in 
an aquarium, but an aquarium is by no means 
the best place for them if we wish to study 
their habits closely or investigate their mechan- 
ism and economy by the aid of lenses; all in- 
sects, many mollusks, larva and other small 
objects should be kept apart, and a collection 
of such objects is what we mean by a water 
cabinet. 
To the genuine student there is really more 
for remunerative study in such a collection 
than can be found in the aquarium, though the 
tank, whether river or marine, will always 
prove most attractive as an ornament, and, be- 
cause it requires less care and study, will be 
pretty sure to retain the greatest number ot 
admirers. But the aquarium and the cabinet 
are distinct things; they cannot be combined 
in the same vessel, and, thougha water cabinet 
is but another ‘form, or rather a series of ‘sepa- 
rate and smaller aquaria, the uses and econo- 
mies of each are in a great measure distinct. 
It is possible to cultivate either without the 
other, though we should generally expect to 
find them in company, the cabinet being a 
growth or extension of the aquarium. 
CONSTRUCTION OF A CABINET.—Ingenuity, 
under the control of circumstances, will devise 
many modes of preserving the smaller speci- 
mens of aquatic life, and we shall here describe 
a plan which, we think, will be found most 
generally useful, particularly as it may have a 
very simple form and be produced for a very 
trifling outlay; or may be elaborated into a 
noble piece of furniture for the adornment pf 
an elegantly furnished room. 
If we describe the measurements of our own 
cabinet it may serve as a guide to any who 
may desire to have one constructed of a similar 
pattern, though, as a matter of course, the plan 
admits of endless modifications, to suit the 
means of the student or the position in which 
such a cabinet is to be placed. 
The table measures nineteen inches from 
back to front across the centre drawer, and 
from back to front across the two side drawers, 

