THE AQUARIUM. 



417 



one, illustrated by a common sliding 

 cedar pencil, the moving part of which 

 slides up and down the other in a dove- 

 tailed groove : the motive power in such 

 a case could be given by the lever, or rack 

 and pinion, above alluded to. 



The only aquarium of any extent, dedi- 

 cated entirely to the culture of aquatic 

 plants, that existed in Britain until within 

 these few years, was that of the Duke of 

 Marlborough at White Knights, dis- 

 mantled many years ago. It is thus 

 described by Todd in " Plans for Green- 

 houses," who was builder of it : " It is 

 constructed with a span roof of glass " — 

 (by the way, one of the earliest specimens 

 of this kind of roof constructed;) "the 

 sides and ends are also of glass, as low 

 down as the top of the flue. A cistern 

 occupies the interior of the house, having 

 a walk round it : it is lined with lead, 

 and filled with a mixture of mud and 

 water proper for the reception and growth 

 of such plants as require aqueous nourish- 

 ment. A flue goes round directly under 

 the bottom of the cistern, for the purpose 

 of keeping the water of a certain tem- 

 perature. Another flue goes round the 

 house above ground, and terminates in a 

 chimney at the north-west corner. The 

 bottom of the cistern, to receive the lead, 

 is formed with slates, supported with bars 

 of cast-iron : a bottom of wood would 

 have been more convenient for laying the 

 lead upon, but as the flues are so near the 

 bottom of the cistern, danger of fire was 

 apprehended." From our recollection of 

 the house above described, it was far too 

 lofty for the majority of plants of this 

 description. We notice it here more to 

 show that such houses have existed, than 

 as a specimen of what they ought to be. 

 To grow tropical aquatics in full perfec- 

 tion, they require a greater degree of 

 bottom heat than is generally afforded 

 them when cultivated in tubs or cisterns, 

 and placed, as they are, too often in out- 

 of-the-way parts of the stove ; the want 

 of success following so bad a practice has 

 probably been the principal cause of 

 banishing those beautiful plants from 

 general collections. They require a bot- 

 tom temperature of at least from 75° to 

 80°, and will bear more with impunity. 

 Such pits as we have shown above will 

 readily afford that temperature, as well as 

 at the same time bring the foliage near to 

 VOL. i. 



the glass, by which the success of the 

 cultivator will be the more complete, as 

 it is well known that these plants will 

 not long survive if kept far from the 

 light. 



An attempt has been made by Mrs 

 Laurence of Ealing Park to combine an 

 aquarium and orchid-house together; and 

 no doubt, under the excellent cultivation 

 practised in that well-known establish- 

 ment, aquatic plants are cultivated with 

 considerable success along with orchids, 

 and other somewhat similar plants. We 

 must, however, remark that, upon visit- 

 ing that splendid collection, we were 

 struck with the circumstance of the aqua- 

 tic plants being placed so far from the 

 glass, that we were led to consider them 

 as being a secondary object. For plan 

 and description of this house, vide section 

 Orchid-House. 



Aquariums for hardy plants are seldom 

 met with out of gardens strictly botanical, 

 and even in them we have never seen one 

 that was so perfect as it ought to be. 

 On the Continent, far greater attention 

 is paid to the cultivation of aquatic 

 plants, many of which are not only ex- 

 tremely curious, but also beautiful while 

 in flower ; and in addition, they are of 

 easy cultivation, requiring little attention 

 after planting, being scarcely susceptible 

 of injury from neglect while a supply of 

 water is kept around them. The aqua- 

 rium, fig. 571, designed by the celebrated 

 German garden-architect, F. L. Sckell, 

 for the botanic garden at Munich, will 

 be understood by the annexed diagrams. 

 The circular basin or tank a, which sup- 

 plies the aquarium, is 1 foot higher than 

 any part to be supplied, for reasons quite 

 obvious. The section, fig. 572, and also 

 the plan at b b, show a division for bog 

 plants not requiring to float in water : 

 this division is prepared by laying a se- 

 cure foundation of well-prepared puddle, 

 and over it the proper soil for the plants 

 to grow in ; c c, &c, in both section 

 and plan, are gravel walks 18 inches 

 broad ; d d, &c, are the water cisterns 

 for true aquatic plants ; and as some of 

 these require a greater depth of water to 

 grow in than others, provision is made 

 to accommodate them by having the 

 tanks subdivided by wooden sluices or 

 partitions, so that some may be deeper 

 than others, and also that the strong- 



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