CHAPTER III. 
PLANTING THE RIVER GARDEN IN THE 
AQUARIUM. 
he very first plants placed picturesquely 
in an Aquarium produce an effect so 
pleasing that the trouble of structure, 
or the expense of purchase, are forgot¬ 
ten in a moment. The object at once 
forms, in fact, a most exquisite orna¬ 
ment for a living room, and especially 
a study. The cool, fresh aspect of water is always 
delightful; and the peculiar growth of aquatic plants, 
straggling in graceful spiral, or in a thousand other 
singular and playful forms, towards the surface and 
the light, are both beautiful and interesting, espe¬ 
cially when seen as a fish would see them, that is, 
sidewise, and not from the top, or looking down 
upon them indistinctly, as is our ordinary point of 
view for these objects. The gentle gliding move¬ 
ments, too, of many of the water creatures, subse¬ 
quently to he introduced, are of a soothing and 
placid character, that seem to fill the mind with a 
