OR, THE HOME-CULTURE OF FRESH-WATER PLANTS. 
contrived; and one wliicli I afterwards constructed 
of muslin was far too conspicuous in the water to 
afford me many chances of capturing the objects of 
my pursuit. Even when I was successful, and had 
the good fortune to see one or more of these curious 
inhabitants of the world of waters safely deposited in 
some earthen pan or bottle, I was seldom able to 
keep them many days. The young larva, disturbed 
by the continual changing of the water, to keep it 
fresh, died; or, when I attempted to clean it un¬ 
disturbed, the water itself became putrid, and had 
to he cast away, along with the miniature monsters I 
had hoped to make my pets, and preserve for a 
long time, observing and studying their evidently 
curious habits and instincts. I had one triumph, 
however. A strange scorpion-like creature, after 
exercising its voracious appetite upon every other 
living thing in the vessel in which I had placed it, 
seemed suddenly to lose all taste for the luxuries 
of the palate, notwithstanding a copious supply of 
the living delicacies it was most fond of, and with 
which I had taken care to furnish it at regular 
intervals. It became restless, and apparently dis¬ 
eased, and I concluded that I was about to lose 
this favourite specimen as I had lost so many others. 
Its uneasiness, however, took quite a different turn 
