26 



THE FAMILY AQUARIUM. 



over, and crush tlie unconscious objects of our admiration, 

 and just perhaps as our enthusiasm may have worked us 

 up into a state of enjoyment, Kke Shelly's — an 



" eternal heaven distilled 



Down to one thick, rich minute." 



The glass and the marble, or slate, are carefully fitted 

 into a solid frame, grooved to receive them. These grooves 

 being first filled with an appropriate cement, the whole 

 tank becomes, in a short time, as compact as possible, 

 and as strong as the combination of materials can make 

 it. The use of iron, in this connection, cannot be too 

 earnestly condemned. The action of the salt water upon 

 it, especially, soon covers the glass with trickling rust, and 

 not only discolors the water, but contaminates it until it 

 becomes destructive to its inhabitants. If common putty, 

 or if white-lead, be employed to secure the glass, slate, 

 etc., to the panes, an equally injurious result will ensue. 

 The water will acquire properties so poisonous that even 

 the plants must expire, and with them will rapidly bid 

 adieu to all our care the fish, insects, and reptiles, which we 

 may have made their companions. The character of the 

 cement used, therefore, is of the utmost importance. It 

 must be powerfully adhesive, or else the tank will be too 

 fragile for the purpose intended, and may shatter without 

 a moment^s warning. It must be calculated to resist the 

 chemical as well as the physical action of the water. It 

 must also, as a sine qua non, contain nothing calculated to 



