THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY 
about an incli thick, of flints or sea gravel, in order 
1 to prevent the molluscous inhabitants fouling the 
water by stirring up the mud. The water is then 
introduced through a fine rose or strainer. Soil is 
also placed in the glass dish before mentioned,which 
is about seven inches in diameter, and one and a half 
inches deep ; and here are planted the plants suitable 
1 for a Wardian Case. The soil is then covered with 
pebbles, forming a miniature rock-work. The dish 
then receives a good watering, and is placed on the 
pedestal, and the whole is covered with a large bell- 
; glass. 
The combined effect of the whole is, I can assure 
' you, most elegant, and it is at once evident that, by 
the use of a tall shade, such as is made use of for 
small statuary groups, a series of tazzas, gradually 
diminishing in size, and displaying plants of varied 
character, might be introduced to almost any extent; 
and by making these tazzas of the more ornamental 
i marbles, or of spar, such as the Blue John of Derby ■ 
i shire, and using agates, cornelians, jaspers, or pieces 
! of ore and spar for the rock-work, it assumes a 
; highly ornamental character, fit for the most elabo- 
I rate drawing-room; whilst, by introducing the rarer 
Ferns and Lycopods, or the more curious of our 
fishes, lizards, water snails, and beetles, the Case 
becomes a valuable adjunct to the library table or 
window of the scientific. But ev?n when furnished 
with the more ordinary denizens of our pools and 
rocks, it affords an interesting example of the 
striking adaptation of the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms to each other, and of the admirable balance 
which, on a larger scale, exists throughout the whole 
world. 
Here, as the decomposing vegetable matter and 
minute confervoid growths spring into* being, the 
water snail, which finds in them its proper nutriment, 
prevents their accumulation, and converts what would 
otherwise discolour and corrupt the water into a rich 
and fertile pabulum for the vegetable world around 
it. The fish, again, feed on the insects and young 
snails, and also excrete a matter well adapted as a 
rich food for plants, and able to sustain a luxurious 
growth. The plants, again, whilst thriving on the 
rejected matter, which has fulfilled its purposes of 
nourishment in the fish and snail, and appropriating 
to the construction of their own tissues and fibres the 
carbonic acid produced by the fish in its respiration, 
give out, in turn, oxygen to sustain the healthy 
functions of animal life; and thus, in a constantly 
recurring cycle, do the various inhabitants of this 
miniature world contribute mutually to the mainte¬ 
nance and adjustment of the balance of the animal 
and vegetable kingdoms. 
Several of the Cases arranged by Mr. Baines have 
now been in operation for nine or ten months, and 
the water is still perfectly pellucid, whilst the plants and 
animals are in a most thriving condition. In case, how¬ 
ever, of the water becoming green or turbid during the 
summer, the water could be drawn off by a small gutta 
percha pipe covered at one end with gauze, and replaced by 
fresh. The bell-glass may also occasionally be removed 
with benefit to the plants, and a sprinkling of water given 
to those in the central dish. 
The following fishes, insects, and plants have been used 
by Mr. Baines in his Cases; but the list may easily be in¬ 
creased according to locality and fancy :— 
Fishes. — Small Gold Fish, Minnows, and Stickle¬ 
backs. 
Moi.i.usks. —Succinea putris, Planorbis corneus, carinatus, 
and marginatus, Cyelas riircola and cornea. 
Insects. —Several species of Colymbetes, Hygrotes, Ha- 
daticus, Gyrinus. 
For the Water Plants. — Vallisneria spiralis, Apono- 
geton distachyon, Nymphaia odorata minor, and Nympluea 
rnacrantha. 
For the Wardian Case.— Adiantum capillus Veneris; 
Lastaea dilatata Schofieldi, a beautiful small Yorkshire 
variety; Asplenium viride and triehomanes; Asplenium 
fontanum, Ac. Lycopods—Willdenovii, umbrosum, stoloni- 
ferum, mutabile, densum, and lepidopterum.—Quis. 
CABBAGE LETTUCE versus BATH COS. 
Many readers of this periodical will have perused with 
pleasure the excellent articles on vegetable culture Mr. 
Erriugton favours us with occasionally, and myself not the 
last among the number; but there was a passage in a late I 
article on “Succulent Vegetables,” where Mr. Errington's j 
opinion differs from mine, and where he pronounced the 
decided pre-eminence of the Bath Cos over the Cabbage 1 
Lettuce. 
We, on the Continent, think differently, and seeing no 
Frenchman or German rise to take up arms in defence of 
our much-esteemed Cabbage Lettuce, I declare myself at 
once its champion, well remembering how many dishes have 
been relished with roast beef, as genuine in its German 
quality as my worthy friend in Cheshire enjoys his famed 
English beef with the Bath Cos. The reason why one kind 
of the same vegetable is so much better liked than another 
in different countries lies, no doubt, in the peculiarity of it^ 
