CHAPTER VII. 



FRESH-WATER REPTILES AND INSECTS. 



THEIR KINDS AND PURPOSE. 



N order to maintaiii the pleasing resemblance of our 



Aquarium to the flowing river and majestic lake, it 



will be judicious in us to introduce a few fresh- 

 water reptiles and insects, to complete the illusion. If 

 they perform no other part in the aquatic entertainment, 

 at least they strengthen the company like so many super- 

 numeraries in costume, and fill up the gaps which, in some 

 diverting performance, might mar the perfection of a bril- 

 liant scene. They are not positively demanded by the exi- 

 gencies of the case. We could do without them, perhaps. 

 But the Aquarium, as an artistical imitation of Nature, 

 who leaves no unfilled hiatus in her scale of nicely bal- 

 anced existences, would not be complete without this 

 addendum, and many an hour's satisfaction would be lost 

 for want of such a costless opportunity to study some of 

 the more diminutive but not less extraordinary phenom- 

 ena of vitality. As it is advisable to be more fastidious 

 than generous in supplying this department, we shall only 



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