4 



THE TANK. 



considered as unmitigated misfortunes, since they 

 have added to my experience, and better fitted me 

 to understand and sympathise with the diflficulties 

 of other beginners. 



THE TANK. 



FoEM, Size, and Materials. — So much depends 

 on individual taste and means in this respect, as 

 well as on the situation which the Aquarium is 

 intended to occupy, that no rule can be laid down 

 for dimensions. My largest tank (now in use as 

 2. fresh water Aquarium,) is a parallel-sided vessel, 

 two feet long, one and a half foot wide, one and a 

 half foot deep ; the sides and ends of plate glass, 

 three-sixteenths thick ; the bottom, a slab of slate 

 one inch thick ; the corners of birch-wood, turned 

 into pillars, each surmounted by a knob, and united 

 by a frame-top or bar going all round. The glass 

 is set in grooves in the slate and wood, and fastened 

 with white-lead putty. I have two others agreeing 

 with this in all respects, except in dimensions, the 

 smallest being (in the clear) fifteen inches long, 

 twelve inches wide, and twelve inches deep. This 

 is a very neat and pretty object for a parlour table, 

 and will hold at least fifty animals appreciable to 

 the senses, provided they be well selected, and a 

 sufficient growth of plants established. 



I have also another tank with a sloping back, 

 made on Mr. Warington's plan. It is of zinc, 

 with the back and two sides of slate, the front 

 and two front-sides alone being of glass. Its 

 form is six-sided, the front resembling a bow- 



