THK YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



301 



is s jmething in the fascination of an aqua- 

 rium that is almost diabolical. You may 

 fail over and over again, now in this point 

 and now on that, but the idea of giving up 

 the whole afhair in disgust never occurs to 

 you, or if it do occur it is only t j be scouted 

 at once. If of a mechanical turn you per- 

 haps try to make your own aquarium, 

 especially as it will be a saving in cost. 

 Unless you are painstaking, clever, and 

 patient, our advice is the same as Punch's 

 advice to those aboi.t to marry, " Don't ! " 

 Buy your aquarium if nobody will give you 

 one; see it filled wfth water, and make sure 

 that not a drop leaks out ; carry it safely 

 home yourself, or see it carried : so shall 

 you save much trouble, worry, and strong 

 I'anguage. I know a man — an ingenious 

 man too — who would n.ake an aquarium ; 

 he has made it, unmade it, and made it 

 again six times ovei to my certain knowledge, 

 and it leaks yet ! Well, we will suppose you 

 have got your aquarium, all you want now 

 is some water and some fishes, with a few 

 water beetles thrown in to make things look 

 cheerful and lively. The tap is handy, and 

 in goes the water. You haven't much time 

 just then to go a fishing, or you don't e.xactly 

 know where to go, so the market supplies 

 your requirements in that line, and now you 

 are prepared to enjoy your hobby ; but 

 instead of enjoying you are going to have 

 trouble and disappointment, bringing with 

 them, however, wisdom and practical skill 

 and final success. First of all you find that 

 things are more lively th:in cheerful with 

 your fishes, and an examination reveals the 

 fact that they are being bitten and harassed 

 to death by the beetles. Both may have 

 come originally from the same p.nd or 

 stream, but circumstances alter cases. You 

 may not be on friendly terms with another 

 resident of Huddersfield, he lives at Lock- 

 wood and you at Hillhouse, so the peace is 

 kept without any difTiculty ; nay, you may 

 even meet and pabs each other casually iu 



the street without coming to blows : but let 

 adverse fate condemn you both to liv,- to- 

 gether in one room and the consequences 

 might be disastrous — something after the 

 fashion of the Kilkenny cats. So it is with 

 these little creatures. In a large pond ani- 

 mals of various and even antagonistic dis' 

 positions may and do contrive to rub along 

 and exist in tolerable comfort,— to be sure, 

 the strong prey upon the weak when they 

 can catch them, but the chances of escape 

 are numerous, and so the balance of life is 

 pretty easily maintained. Now in an aqua- 

 rium all these conditions are set aside — the 

 space is limited, hiding places are few or 

 altogether wanting, and the weakest goes to 

 the wall with a vengeance. So at the cost 

 of some trouble and vexation comes lesson 

 No. I, viz., to be careful about associating 

 uncongenial companions in the same vessel. 

 And this rule applies not merely to car- 

 nivorous beetles and their larvae, but to 

 some kinds of fish which are apt to swallow 

 those less and bully those bigger than them- 

 selves. Sticklebacks and perch are open to 

 this objection : they are both beautiful, 

 lively fish, but they are not fit to live with 

 any other species, owin;,' to their quarrel- 

 some, tyrannical disposition. The carp 

 (gold and silver fish) is the most harmless 

 and inoffensive of all, but then he really is 

 such a dreamy, easy-going fish that there 

 isn't much fun to Le got out of him. Min- 

 nows are universal favourites, and they 

 deserve it, for they are most lively and 

 interesting fish, and soon become very tame ; 

 but even hero it is not advisable to put big 

 ones and litt e ones together — that is if you 

 want to see the little ones again. Well, you 

 try once more. The beetles and dead fish 

 arc got rid of, and some more fish procured. 

 For a time all seems right, but by and by 

 the fish take a fancy to swim round and 

 round at the top, frequently poking their 

 noses quite out of the water, then one by 

 one they begin to subside quietly to the 



