36 



THE FAMILY AQUARIUM. 



which is certainly picturesque, and leaves nothing more to 

 be desired in the way of aeration. But many of these 

 schemes are expensive ; few of them are of much import- 

 ance, and none indispensable. The tank must be so placed 

 as to throw an abundance of light on the vegetable portion 

 of the Aquarium to enforce their growth, and with this 

 light we cannot always avoid, even with a cover, an ab- 

 sorption of the air, in a dry atmosphere, and an evapora- 

 tion of the water. These, of course, when they occur, 

 should be remedied. 



The simplest mode of aerating the water in a small 

 tank, however, is either to use a common fire-bellows, such 

 as all have at hand who burn wood. When coal is the 

 customary fuel, and the bellows has become obsolete, as 

 it has in some portions of the United States, a large sy- 

 ringe will answer as a substitute. The syringe, of course, 

 must be lifted, after each discharge of air, out of the wa- 

 ter, in order to fill it again. In a few moments, the wa- 

 ter under this disturbance will be seen to grow white with 

 bubbles, and will resemble, on a small scale, the appear- 

 ance of the sea or river in a storm, when the waves dash 

 about, and dance, and grow furiously hilarious in their ex- 

 citement. In truth, it is this violent agitation of the sea 

 and the river that aerates their waters, and disengages the 

 gases that would otherwise tend to affect aquatic life, 

 and carries down to considerable depths, to be distributed 

 by under currents, in every direction, the renovating and 

 exhilarating influence. 



