48 



THE FAMILY AQUAEIUM. 



It resembles a seaweed, but grows only in fresli water. 

 It takes up but little space, is ornamental, because it 

 may be made to add a look of verdure to the otherwise 

 naked rocks in the tank, and it throws off oxygen liberally 

 to sustain the animal life in the Aquarium, which is always 

 a point of material importance. 



No. 6. Golden Club is an inhabitant of slow streams 

 and ponds. Its leaves float on the water, and its flowers 

 are a bright yellow in color and attractive. It would 

 not be of much value in a small tank. 



No, 1. Sweet Flag, is the common Calamus, so abun- 

 dant in swamps and on the borders of streams, and is too 

 well known to need much description. The C aromaticus 

 {acorns of the botanists), is an odoriferous plant formerly 

 brought from India, but now found all over northern Eu- 

 rope and America. It is much chewed by children and 

 others in this country. The distillers of Dantzic use it to 

 correct the smoky odor of spirits and impart a peculiar 

 flavor. C. pastoralis, in the olden time, was the reed or 

 cane employed as a musical instrument. The fistula, or 

 shepherd^s pipe, was made of this substance, and is hence 

 figuratively used by the poets for the pipe itself. The 

 C. scriptorius, or chartarius, sharpened with a knife or a 

 rough stone and split like our pens, was used, by the an- 

 cients to write with on substances such as papyrus, parch- 

 ment, etc., which the common stylus might injure. The 

 Calamus is too large for an ordinary Aquarium, in our 

 opinion. 



