178 TRANSACTIONS LIVERPOOL BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



wires need not be less than half an inch apart, and the 

 horizontal or binding wires three or four inches from one 

 another. It may be completely open on top with incurved 

 wires, the cage being fifteen or eighteen inches high. 

 \Vith a cage of this class the reptiles cannot climb out. 

 To give them a dry footing, the cage must project twelve 

 or fifteen inches over one end. An oak board resting in 

 a shallow zinc tray at this end will enable them to leave 

 the water when they desire it. A small wire ladder will 

 be of great service to the small ones. 



A plain deal table, with a circular opening nine 

 inches in diameter in the middle, will support this 

 structure. Underneath the table, and parallel with the 

 top, should be a shelf for the heating apparatus. Three 

 inches depth of water will be sufficient, and at a tempera- 

 ture of 7-3 degrees Fahr. While we have no definite data 

 regarding the temperature of the lakes and rivers where 

 these reptiles are found, we may safely conclude it will 

 not be under GO degrees Fahr. In addition, the external 

 temperature is so much higher than ours that it is 

 necessary to have a rather high temperature for them 

 before they will feed well and remain active and lively. 



Gas is probably the most satisfactory method of 

 heating, and the simplest form is the oldest — it consists 

 of applying a flame under the tank directly. For this 

 purpose, the smallest atrnosjmeric gas burner will suffice. 

 Mine is on the bunsen plan, capstan shape. It gave 

 twenty-two side jets, half of which I stopped. This will 

 work admirably in connection with tubing from a burner 

 when there is no direct gas-pipe. The burner should be 

 mounted on a block of wood, with asbestos sheeting inter- 

 vening to prevent the wood burning. Practice will very 

 soon show how high the gas may be turned. Success 

 with these reptiles is easily attained by a minimum of 



