THE 



HANDBOOK 



TO 



MAKINE AQUAEIUM. 



An Aquarium is simply a vessel of water in which 

 aquatic plants, or animals, or both, are preserved 

 alive ; and a Marine Aquarium is, of course, such 

 a vessel, whose contents, animate and inanimate, 

 are derived from the sea. 



In general it is the marine Animals that form 

 the main source of interest, everything else being 

 merely accessory to these. Many of the sea-plants, 

 " weeds" though they are called, are indeed very 

 beautiful ; the elegant forms of some, the delicate 

 muslin-like tracery of others, the plumose lightness 

 of more, '^fine as silkworm's thread," and the 

 beautiful play of colours, red and green^ which a 

 well-stocked Aquarium displays, as the light is 

 transmitted through their pellucid substance, may 

 claim for these objects more than an indirect 

 attention. Still it is true, that, in most cases^ they 

 are preserved because they cannot be dispensed 

 with. 



If we attempt to collect and to keep marine 



B 



