RIVER GARDENS; 
Gold fisli. They are torpid in winter ; and it is their 
habit to make their way to the sea to spawn towards 
August, when they will leave the ponds and travel 
for miles over the meadows to reach their desti¬ 
nation. At the time that the young fry ascend the 
rivers towards the fresh waters, vast shoals of them 
have sometimes been observed. The passage of young 
Eels up the Thames at that season, as Yarrell informs 
us, is an extraordinary sight. Above 1800 per 
minute, averaging about three inches long, have 
been known to pass a given point. This passage of 
the young Eels, says the same writer, is called Eel 
Eare, from the old Saxon word, to travel, or pass. 
Erom this migratory habit it is evident that at 
a certain season the pet Eel will escape from 
the Aquarium, and most likely come to some un¬ 
timely end, unless the requisite precautions he 
taken. 
Among the smaller kinds of fish, I have tried 
the Loach, or Beardie (Cobitis barbatula ), in an 
Aquarium, and found the species hear confinement 
well. It would he worth while to observe very 
carefully the movements of this little fish, as it is 
said that by them the changes in the weather may 
he ascertained as readily as by a weather-glass. 
At certain periods I have, indeed, noticed that it 
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