NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
77 
pail of water with earth at the bottom. Vermicelli is appreciated by fish and 
may be given to them when other food cannot be provided, but ought not to be 
used exclusively. When keeping a few fish in a large quantity of water, with live 
pond-weeds, and water snails, it is not necessary to change the water except very 
rarely. A small globe, in which we kept newts, snails and weed, remained fresh 
for three years without being cleaned out, only being occasionally filled up with 
water. Soft water (rain water filtered through cotton wool) has been recom- 
mended for the aquarium. 
When fish constantly rise to the surface of the water it means they are being 
suffocated for want of oxygen, and though the aquarium ought to be kept in a 
cool place, a little sunlight enables the water plants to give off the needed oxygen. 
No doubt fish are capable of feeling discomfort, as their nervous .system is highly 
organised. The fact of being “ cold blooded ” does not really affect the question 
of pain. 
Place over the aquarium a cover which will keep out the dust, but freely 
admit air ; when dust does accumulate remove it with blotting paper. Some 
gravel should be placed at the bottom of the aquarium, on which the fish love to 
rub themselves. 
Do not handle fish unless absolutely necessary, and always remove any which 
are diseased, from the others, and place them, when possible, in running water. 
E. G. WOODD. 
Gold Fish (p. 37). — It might not be quite correct to apply the word 
“cruelty” to the keeping of gold fish in a bowl of water, but it is an unsatis- 
factory method, for only a distorted image of the fish can be seen unless viewed 
from the top, and they thrive better if given some shade. With regard to food, 
if the water is changed frequently they may find enough sustenance from the 
animalcula therein, but a few specks of vermicelli given every other day, and 
removed if not immediately eaten, i.s advisable. The nervous system is probably 
less developed in fishes than in mammals, but that fish are capable of feeling is 
indisputable, and C. E. C. can prove this by simply touching one ; it will give some 
sign of feeling, however slight the contact. F. W. Ashley. 
Snowdrops — The winter aconite is the first flower to open in English 
gardens, but I think we give the first place in our hearts to the next comer, the 
snowdrop. Tennyson ignores the former: for him the “ February fair maids” 
are “solitary firstlings,” and so they are for most of us. 
The snow has been slow and sullen in its going this year, and the snowdrops 
have been showing their narrow green leaves and white pointed buds above its 
last sullied remnants, having pierced their passage through the hard ground, still 
frozen at the surface and for many inches below. It is very beautiful to notice in 
what form and with what protection they have forced their way upwards. The 
leaf is sharply pointed, so is the bud which is held erect, that part which will fall 
lowest in the full-blown flower being now held highest. Two green ribs encircle 
the white bud on either side, and nearly touch above its head, forming a point 
which doubtless bears the brunt of the battle with the stiff, frozen ground. 
Between these green ribs extends on either side a white veil, so finely transparent 
that you scarcely might notice it. Within this green and white case the bud 
swells and grows, till at length it bursts one side of the veil near the top, and still 
growing and swelling it rips its casing to the bottom, the top part of the bud falls 
over, and it hangs, a perfect flower, leaving its green ribs and one untorn curtain 
still erect above it. 
It is not easy to describe on paper even the simplest of Nature’s changes, but 
five minutes’ examination of snowdrops in their different stages will make fully 
clear all that I have tried to expre.ss. Agnes Fry. 
A Word, for the Cuckoo. — A young cuckoo was reared in a hedge sparrow’s 
nest in one of three large cut yew trees on our terrace border last spring. My 
daughter and I had been told of the fact, but not in which of the three trees the 
bird was to be found. We were anxious to see it, so sat down at a little distance 
away, feeling sure we should see the old sparrows flying to and fro, and by this 
means find out the nest. We did not wait long before the parent cuckoo appeared 
on the scene and flew to the first yew tree, cut in level steps. She alighted on the 
second step and hopped lei.surely all round the tree, evidently looking for the young 
bird, which she did not find there, so she flew to the next yew-tree, similarly 
