6 
THE f CHEMIST AND DRUGGIST. 
May, 1880. 
3. Give some of the constituents of plants under the follow- 
ing heads : — (1.) Organic matter. (2.) Inorganic matter. 
4. How would you distinguish the stigmas of Croci sativus 
from the florets of Carthamus tinctorius , the latter being often 
employed as an adulterant of the former ? 
5. Linum usitatissimum What part is officinal? State 
the preparations. 
6. Give the natural order of matico. 
Note. — 3 and 4 well answered will receive special marks. 
Questions in Practical Pharmacy. 
Time allowed, one hour. — Examiner, C. E. Blackett. 
1. What is specific gravity ? What is the use of the hydro- 
meter ? Name the principal scales in use. 
2. What is the actual value in avoirdupois weight of the 
gramme ? 
3. Give the official names of the liquid preparations of 
opium, and the dose of each. 
4. State the official process for preparing morphia. 
5. How is hydrocyanic acid prepared ? State the official 
test for its strength. 
6. How is official belladonna plaster prepared ? 
MY FIKST AQUARIUM.— (By Mr. C. A. Atkin.) 
( Continued from page 95.) 
My first afternoon’s haul consisted of small Yarra trout, 
perch, or, in more vulgar parlance, mud-fish (who, by-the- 
way, is a very inquisitive, interesting little fellow), shrimps, 
water scorpions, large aquatic beetles, singing beetles, dyticus 
marginalis, caddis worms, &c. Indeed, I now thought I was 
getting on swimmingly, and the daily increasing curiosity of 
my friends went far to confirm me in that opinion. 
About this time, my esteemed fellow-townsman, the late 
Dr. Howitt, called. He was, like myself, an amateur naturalist, 
and probably possessed the largest collection of land and 
water beetles in the colony. The worthy doctor at once took 
a lively interest in my collection, told me the scientific names 
of each specimen, their habits, &c. ; and on the occasion of his 
next visit brought me a valuable aquatic plant. 
Another friend, the late Rev. J D , was scarcely less 
useful to me in this particular aquarium, and I cannot help 
relating an incident which goes far to support such a state- 
ment. One week-night, rather late, he dropped in, and 
almost his first inquiry was, “Well, how is the aquarium 
getting on !” My reply was satisfactory, and without more 
ado he said — “ I have brought you an interesting contribution. 
While on my way to preach at Footscray I passed a man who, 
whilst digging a post-hole, had come upon a lot of small eels, 
which he showed me. I at once thought of you, but the 
difficulty was, how could I convey them? After searching 
for some time, we managed to find a jam tin, and putting 
them in my coat-pocket, I continued my journey, and con- 
ducted the service with the eels in my pocket. Here they are, 
and I trust you will find them all right.” Sure enough they 
were. The ball-shape in which they were coiled up contained 
about two dozen of them, from 2 in. to 4 in. long, and after a 
week’s stay in the aquarium they became the objects of 
unflagging interest, not only to my reverend friend but to 
many others. 
My next addition to the aquarium was an inverted propa- 
gating glass, placed on a wooden stand. This receptacle only 
held about a gallon of water, but it was amply large enough 
for the experiment I intended it for — viz., to ascertain how 
long I could keep the fish alive without changing the water. 
The result of this case showed about eighteen months, during 
which time very few of the fish died. 
The whole theory may be explained in a few words. Living 
animals absorb oxygen gas, and exhale or throw off carbonic 
acid gas. By a like continuous process plants separate the 
carbonic acid gas into its constituent elements, carbon and 
oxygen. The plants absorb the carbon, which is converted 
into their vegetable tissue, and in their turn throw off the 
free oxygen for the animals to breathe. In this way animal 
and vegetable life are balanced, and so long as this equili- 
brium is preserved the two can be kept together in clear 
colourless water for any length of time. 
My next grade in the aquarium line was a more elaborate 
affair altogether. I wished to have a fountain in the centre 
of a tank, as well as the vegetation and fish already described. 
For this purpose I had a small tank made with plate- glass 
sides, and ends bedded into brass pillars, and a slate bottom. 
In this I put 4 in. deep of washed sand and several aquatic 
plants, including the white and blue flag, small bulbs of the 
white arem lily, and some of the finest specimens of the 
graceful Vallisneria spiralis I ever saw, presented to me by 
my friend, Mr. J. Bosisto, who obtained them, I believe, 
in Gippsland, where, he informed me, it grows in abundance. 
Notwithstanding the distance it had been brought, the plant 
had still the graceful spirals and elegant flowers attached. 
I may mention that this, of all others, is esteemed the best 
aquatic plant for the purposes of a fresh- water aquarium, and 
in Europe it is extensively used by chemists and those who 
deal in leeches to oxygenate the water in which those blood- 
thirsty creatures are kept. It is indigenous to the south of 
Europe. 
My next requirement was a framework of wood, which I 
covered over when made with a coating of Portland cement. 
This I left in water — frequently cleaning it— for weeks, so that 
when put into the tank the lime in the cement would not 
destroy the fish. Soon ofter its completion I was cheered by 
the sight of my first goldfish. In the year of the great flood, 
1864, a large number of the fish that had accumulated at Mr. 
Coppin’e Cremorne-gardens was washed out into the Yarra, 
and from thence found their way into the North Melbourne 
swamp. A youth came to me one day with, I think, the first 
specimen of the kind that had been seen out of Cremorne. 
Who sent him I know not, but I presume that some kind 
friend who had heard of my icthyological vagaries or eccen- 
tricities considered that it was the right thing to do, and I 
have not heard since that any one regretted the proceeding. 
My hobby (and every one has, or ought to have, a hobby, pro- 
vided it is an interesting and instructive one, and interferes 
with no one else’s comfort) cost me 7s. 6d. on that occasion. 
I now added to my large aquarium some fresh- water turtle, 
about the size of a five-shilling piece, from the Murray River ; 
a few crayfish from the quarryholes at Brunswick ; and, in 
fact, I had quite the nucleus of an amateur’s aquarium. 
There was, however, a daily increasing desire for more 
wonders of nature, as distinguished from those which art can 
display. My next ambition was to breed goldfish, and I 
ultimately succeeded in bringing them to perfection in a tank 
I had made in my back garden. The spawning season for them 
commences about December. On closely watching the fish I saw 
them frequently brush quickly past any aquatic vegetation 
that came in their way, and on clipping some of these plants 
off with a pair of scissors I discovered several small jelly bags 
about the size of a pin’s head deposited upon them. These I 
carefully lodged in a large glass vase, in which some vegetation 
had previously been growing, and after a few days I was able 
to distinguish two little black spots (the eyes) in each jelly 
bag ; on the sixth day they were liberated, and adhering to 
the sides of the glass vase, just like the small mosquitoes 
without wings. A few days later, they commenced to dart 
about in the water, a distance of about two or three inches at 
a time ; then, after a few weeks, the fins were developed, they 
were of age, and away on their own account. 
I kept some of them for a length of time ; but owing to 
their confinement in such a limited space they remained very 
small. Subsequent experience proved to me that the carp, 
although brown at first, assumes a golden colour, and grow 
much quicker in a stream of dirty, muddy water, to which 
circumstance they are probably indebted for their appellation 
of a mud-fish. 
I think I have said enough to encourage any amateur who, 
like myself, is inclined to give this interesting study a fair 
trial. 
Many, if not all, of the doubts and uncertainties I had to 
contend with have been cleared away by the creation of such 
monster establishments as that of the Trocadero Aquarium, at 
Paris, an account of which appeared in the last number of the 
Victorian Review. Besides, the very “ difficulties” of such a 
pursuit are, to most minds, the best “ incentives” to further 
diligence, and, in this case, I guarantee that the reward of 
such perseverance will be ample. 
It was my intention to have added a resume of my experi- 
ence with marine aquaria. Space alone prevents me, for the 
material at my command is much more extensive than that 
already employed, and the interest it awakens is, to my mind, 
proportionately greater. 
I will, therefore, await the result of this first instalment, 
and, should opportunity afford, will do my best to save those 
who have followed me thus far a disappointment in the future 
article. 
