Cabinet Vivaria . 
aquarium proper has been fully furnished, are certain reptiles and batrachians. 
For the accommodation of these, the best arrangement is that of an island 
surrounded with water, and enclosed in part with strong wire gauze, and in 
part with glass. Whatever design may be determined on, provision must be 
made for ensuring the utmost cleanliness and perfect ventilation ; for not only 
is it desirable to help the collection in health, but it should at all times have 
a seemly appearance—our hobbies should be decently dressed, and bear at all 
times an inoffensive aspect. 
The figure placed at the head of this chapter represents a vivarium, 
which for many years was devoted to a collection of lizards, tortoises, 
and frogs, a few of them really beautiful creatures, all of them interest¬ 
ing and affording endless amusement. In the centre was a block of 
peat, with its natural herbage of moss, and a dead tree firmly fixed for 
such of the inmates as were accustomed to climbing. The two troughs 
were receptacles for water, to which the animals had ready access, whether to 
bathe or drink. The greater part of the frame-work was filled in with glass, 
let into grooves without putty, but the ridge line of the roof and the sides of 
the water troughs were wire gauze. House flies, spiders, butterflies, and other 
small lively insects were introduced to afford the proper inhabitants a choice 
of diet, and generally speaking, when these became scarce, the animals were 
so far torpid that food was not required. The general plan of such a structure 
may be varied almost indefinitely, and to almost any degree of elaboration. 
A suggestive design for the combination of an island, for ferns and a few 
lizards, with a collection of fishes, will be found in the figure of the fernery 
aquarium at page 49. In carrying out a design for such a purpose a few 
precautions will be necessary to ensure success. Ventilation and cleanliness 
have been remarked upon as of the utmost importance. Now it will tend 
greatly to the attainment of these conditions, if as many parts as possible 
of the construction adopted are made movable; where it is not necessary 
that the glass should be water-tight, it will be folly to make it air-tight. 
A good plan is to have the glasses' fixed in movable frames, which can be 
held in their places by pins or buttons, as the handling of sheets of glass 
might at times prove dangerous. The receptacles for water should be as 
readily accessible as any other part. Those in the figured case are zinc 
troughs or boxes which can be lifted out at any time. A more convenient 
method would be the adoption of an open sliding trough, made to draw out, 
a piece of wood or something of the kind taking its place until returned. 
