* See
re ra Pig -

SS
§
ie ae I -
ny , *\
7 i)
ma is a o
a ;
me | :
j 7]
; /
’ : -
"1 Lr _
= a
ta 7 A rt

DIVISION CF FISHES
We. Se NATIONAL MUSELIM

Vou. III.

CopyRIGHT 1895.

SULY, teen,

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

CHRISTIAN GOTTFRIED
EHRENBERG.

NE of the most
prominent natural-
ists that the nine-
teenth century has
produced was C. G.

Khrenberg. He was not
only a countryman of
‘ours, but he was also born
and .raised in our own
native town, Delitzsch,
and reminiscences of our
own happy childhood are
connected with the name
of Ehrenberg. His father’s and our
grandfather’s gardens adjoined each
other, being separated by a small hedge
only.

When yet a small schoolboy, our in-
terest in Natural History was such that
every spare hour was spent in grand-
father’s large garden, hunting butter-
flies, beetles and caterpillers, or fishing
all kinds of living creatures out of the
moats that surrounded the castle and
the walls of the town. The professor,
who frequently visited the old home-
stead, would take much pleasure in en-
lightening us on the various objects

920713

that fell prey to us, and gave us the
first practical instruction for their
preparation or care.

It is the one hundredth anniversary
of his birth that caused this sketch to
be written of a man who was shortly
before his death honored by the Leeu-
wenhoek medal, and proclaimed by the
Academy of Science of Amsterdam
the most eminent microscopist alive;
for he was also famous as a botanist
and zoologist, taking great imterest in
the aquarium.

C. G. Ehrenberg was born April 19,
1795, in Delitzsch, a small town near
Leipsic (Germany). His father held
the office of recorder of the Lutheran-
Evangelical diocese in that town. The
duties of his office brought him in close
contact with the pastors of the various
churches. Many of these gentlemen
were noted for their love of natural
history, and especially one of them, the
pastor of the nearby Count Hohenthal
estate, ‘‘ Doebernitz,” was a great botan-
ist, who went so far in his enthusiasm
as to form a small class of five or six
young boys for the study of this branch
of science.

Ehrenberg was among these pupils.
His craving for knowledge, and ability

178 THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

to learn, caused his father to yield to
his desire for a higher school education.
Delitzsch owns three free scholarships
at the famous cloister school Pforta.
This school is not far from Delitzsch, in
beautiful Thiiringen. One of the schol-
arships Ehrenberg succeeded in secur-
ing, a privilege representing about five
hundred dollars a year. In later years,
when he had reached the height of his
fame, he often spoke gratefully of his
native town, acknowledging that with-
out the aid of the Delitzsch scholarship
his career would have been impossible.

After six years young Ehrenberg was
graduated with honors,and although his
taste was decidedly in favor of natural
history, complying with the wish of his
father, he studied theology at the Uni-
versity of Leipsic. Having completed
his studies, his first sermon convinced
his father that he would not be a suc-
cess as a preacher, and he now willingly
gave his permission for the study of
medicine.

Delitzsch having at the close of the
Napoleonic war, 1815, become a Prus-
sian possession, Ehrenberg’s military
duties compelled him to stop his studies
at Leipsic and continue them at the
Royal University at Berlin. Three years
later he passed examination and re-
ceived his grade as M.D.

His father expected that Gottfried
would now return to his native town,
settle down and devote himself to the
practice of medicine. But fate directed
differently. His essay, written in the
most perfect Latin, on the development
of moulds and fungi, showed so much
originality of thought that it attracted
the attention of the Royal Academy.
They found him useful, and two years
later he started with his intimate
friend, Hemprich, likewise an M. D.
and instructor of Zodlogy at the Mili-

tary Academy, on an expedition to
Africa at the expense of the Prussian
Government.

For nearly six years these two young
scientists studied the floraand fauna of
the Desert, the upper Nile, Mount
Sinai, Lebanon, the Red Sea and Abys-
sinia. The narrative, as told in Ehren-
berg’s diary and printed in Dr. Max
Laue’s biography of Ehrenberg, which
work we have before us while writing
this sketch, reads like fiction. No rail-
roads nor steamers being then in exist-
ence, the long journey from Berlin to
Triest had to be made in wagons ; a sail-
ing vessel carried them to Alexandria.
From there on they traveled on the
backs of camels, of which their cara-
van possessed sixteen, or on Nile-
boats. We read that the travelers had
been left a long time without money
and even letters from home, through
the treacherous act of the Prussian
consul at Triest, who had used for
himself the money sent for them, with-
holding at the same time all corres-
pondence both ways. ‘Twice our travy-
elers were surrounded by the terrible
plague ; a war on the desert caused °
them at another time to retreat to
Cairo, while tropical fevers reduced
their number.

Nine of the party had already found
their graves on the border of the Nile
or in the sand of the desert, and when,
while in Abyssinia, Dr. Hemprich also
died of tropic fever in the arms of
Ehrenberg, then the expedition turned
homeward.

The result of this voyage was 34,000
specimens, representing 135 species of
mammals, 430 of birds, 546 of fish and
amphibians, 600 annelides and crusta-
cea and 2,000 species of insects, 300
specimens of minerals, and botanical
specimens without number. This col-

ham JO

goer ms
are DELI ;
HE BIRTHPLACE OF

Re
Bie

SSS:
oye ,

LN
AiO THI Orhan

OSG e
EPNAGCPRPNON

180 THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

lection, having been shipped to Berlin
at intervals as collected, filled 114 boxes,
each of 20 to 80 cubic feet. Besides these
specimens Ehrenberg brought his and
Hemprich’s diaries and many thousands
of excellent sketches, nearly all in colors,
Ehrenberg being a fine artist. All
these were added to the royal museums
in Berlin. On his return to Europe
Ehrenberg found himself a well-known
man ; in fact, famous.

He was liberally rewarded by his Gov-
ernment with honors and a nice round
sum of solid cash. Besides this, he
was installed as professor of medical
science at the Royal University of
Berlin, which chair he held until his
death.

After a well-deserved rest of about
two years, during which his broken-
down constitution had been restored,
Ehrenberg accepted an offer from Alex.
von Humboldt to accompany him on a
voyage through Asiatic Russia. In April,
1829, they started from Berlin. Their
trip extended through the Ural Mount-
ains and Siberia to the borders of
China. This trip was just the contrary
to that experienced by Ehrenberg in
Africa. The famous German scientists
were supplied by the Russian Govern-
ment with all the conveniences the
Czar could think of. Heavily laden
with specimens belonging to the differ-
ent kingdoms, among which were about
1,000 species of plants and many valu-
able minerals, the travelers returned to
Berlin after an absence of about a year.

Ehrenberg was a member or honorary
member of seventy scientific associa-
tions, located all over the globe. He was
distinguished with the highest order
his king could bestow upon him; many
foreign rulers also decorated him;
learned societies awarded him high
medals, and the University of Oxford

made him a Master of Arts in the
presence of the Queen, Ehrenberg hav-
ing been seated next to the throne on
this occasion.

After the death of his friend, the
famous Humboldt, the Académie de
France elected Ehrenberg in_ the
former’s place. About 1859, the King
of Prussia had a picture painted of
Ehrenberg, which now hangs in the
Hohenzollern Gallery and from which
the one in our illustration has been
copied. But Ehrenberg has been
honored in other ways yet: twenty-
four animals, fifty-six plants, one
mineral (Ehrenbergite), a group of
islands, a mountain and a cape having
been named in his honor.

In 1865, the eyes that had worked so
much gave out; a cataract had formed
and Ehrenberg became totally blind.
For two years he was unable to see any-
thing. A successful operation performed
by the famous oculist Dr Graefe, at his
clinic, restored the sight. He could
again see his family and friends. He
used his eyes again in connection with
the microscope, but very cautiously ;
his youngest daughter, being his as-
sistant, attended to the most straining
part of the work.

Ehrenberg was the type of a German
scientist : seemingly slow, but thorough.
Aside from the thousand and one new
discoveries which he has made in the
different branches of science, among
which were some of great importance,
he has written and published a great.
deal and his collection of microscope

~ slides numbered 39,000 analyses of ani-

mals, 1,000 geological sections, 1,000
of infusoriz. All of these are properly
named, classified and catalogued. Be-
sides these, he left illustrations by his.
own hand numbering many thousand
sheets, some of them containing from

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

181

twenty to forty illustrations; a great
many specimens of soils, dredgings and
minerals from all parts of the globe.
This entire collection, together with the
microscope Ehrenberg had in constant
and exclusive use since 1832, was bought
by the Prussian Government and deliv-
ered personally by Ehrenberg in May,
1876. June 27, 1876, he died and was
buried at Berlin. His grave is marked
by a plain obelisk that shows in front
his bust in bass-relief, and in the rear
the motto which he had selected in
connection with his doctor essay :

Der Welten Kleines auch ist wunderbar
und gross,

Und aus dem Kleinen bauen sich
die Welten.

A COLONY OF YOUNG FROGS
ON THE PARENTAL BACK.

The remarkable habits of some tropi-
cal frogs that nurse their young, as it
were, by carrying them about on their
backs, are described in Anowledge (May
1), by Mr. R. Lydekker, in an article
from which we quote below :

**So far back as the year 1705, Fraeu-
lein Sibylla von Merian, in a work on
the reptiles of Surinam, described a re-
markable toad-like creature, in which
the young are carried in a series of cells
in the thick skin of the back of the
female, which at this period has a
honeycomb-like appearance. ‘ill last
year, when living examples were re-
ceived by the London Zodlogical So-
ciety, the Surinam toad (Pipa Ameri-
cana), as the animal in question is
called, was, we believe, only known in
Europe by means of specimens pre-
served in spirit; and we have, there-
fore, been obliged to depend upon for-
eign observers for an account of its
marvelous life-history. As it differs
from other members of its order with

regard to its method of bringing up
its family, so the Surinam toad is
structurally more or less unlike all its
kindred, constituting not only a genus
but likewise a family group by itself.
Externally it is characterized by its
short and triangular head, which is
furnished with a large flap of skin at
each corner of the mouth, and has very
minute eyes. ‘The four front toes are
quite free, and terminate in expanded
star-like tips; but a large web unites
the whole five toes of the hind foot.
In any state the creature is by no
theans a beauty, but when the female
is carrying her nursery about with her
she is absolutely repulsive in appear-
ance.

‘Tt would seem that soon after the
eggs are laid, they are taken up by the
male and pressed, one by one, into the
cells in the thickened skin of his part-
ner’s back; there they grow till they
fit closely to the hexagonal form of
their prisons, each of which is closed
above by a kind of trap-door. After a
period of some eighty-two days, the
eggs reach their full development and
produce, not tadpoles, but actually
perfect little toads. The reason of
this is that tadpoles, which require to
breath the air dissolved in water by
means of their external gills, could not
exist in the cells, and, consequently,
this stage of the development is passed
through very rapidly within the egg.
When ready to come forth, the young
toads, which are usually from sixty to
seventy in number, although there may
sometimes be over a hundred, burst open
the lids of their cells, and, after stretch-
ing forth their head ora limb, make their
début in the world. Doubtless, glad to
be free from her charge, the mother-
toad thereupon rubs off what remains
of the cells against any convenient

182 THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

stone or plant-stem, and comes out in
all the glory of a brand-new skin.
During the non-breeding season these
toads become much flattened, and
seem to pass the whole of their time
in water.

««The Surinam toad is, however, by
no means the only South American
representative of its order whose nur-
sery arrangements are peculiar ; a con-
siderable number of frogs and toads
from the warmer regions of the New
World having ideas of their own as to
the proper method of bringing up a
young family.

** According to a communication re-
cently made by Dr. Geldi, of Rio de
Janeiro, to the Zodlogical Society, the
tree-frogs of the genus Hyla, inhabit-
ing that part of Brazil, show consider-
able diversity in regard to nursing hab-
its, although none of them has any
part of its own body modified into a
nursery. One species, for instance,
builds nests of mud on the shallow
borders of pools, wherein the eggs and
tadpoles are protected from enemies ;
while another kind lays its eggs in a
slimy mass attached to withered banana
leaves, the young remaining in this
nest until they have passed through
the tadpole stage. Ina third species,
on the other hand, the larval stages
are hurried through before hatching,
the female carrying a load of eggs on
her back, where they remain until de-
veloped into perfect frogs.

““The female of Darwin’s frog ( Rhin-
oderma Darwini), from Chile, has,
however, ‘gone one better’ than all
her allies; for, not only does she get her
eggs and young safely carried about
until they are fit to take care of them-
selves, but she has actually shifted the
onerous task of taking care of them to
her consort. Whereas there is nothing

remarkable about the structure of the
female of this frog, the male has a
capacious pouch underlying the whole
of the lower surface of the body, which
communicates with the exterior by
means of a pair of apertures opening
into the mouth on each side of the
tongue. As soon as his partner has
deposited her eggs, the male frog takes
them in his front paws and transfers
them to his mouth, whence they pass
into the great nursing pouch, where
they remain in perfect security till
hatched into young frogs, which make
their way into the world by the same
passages.”

SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH.

Two of these strange fishes are placed
in the same bottle. They proceed to
take each other’s measure, shoulder up
to each other in school-boy fashion,
and back and push around the ‘‘ring,”
the small fins vibrating rapidly all the
time, and each little being quivering
with excitement and wrath. This goes
on for some minutes, until, as the spec-
tators are growing impatient, one fish
suddenly flips his head around, makes
a dart, and a considerable dent in his
adversary’s tail shows at once that he
has got home. Henceforth there is no
hesitation until one or the other cries,
peccavi. In regular fish fights on
which money depends, the battle is
continued until one fish turns tail and
is chased around the bottom by the
other. But this is usually an affair of
an hour, and frequently of three or
four. The pluck and determination of
the fighters are wonderful. The ordi-
nary stream fish do not evince nearly
so much as those that have been bred
and reared for the purpose. The tail
is the part which shows most damage,
for it is very easily torn; but a good

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

183

grip on a side fin is more effective.
When one pins the other by the nose a
very exciting struggle takes place, the
two lying fastened together like profes-
sional wrestlers, and then shaking each
other backward and forward with might
and main.

They often seem extremely exhausted,
but still fight on bravely, and some-
times it is a matter of difficulty to part
them. They display considerable agil-
ity in evading their opponent’s mouth,
and also in suddenly twisting around
and taking a piece out of his tail. In
twenty minutes or so these appendages,
which looked so brave and bright as
they went into the fray, are torn to rib-
bons. The fish’s general appearance
after the fight suggests that of asailing
ship emerging from a hot action, with
her canvas hanging in streamers, her
topmasts shot away, and her crew gasp-
ing for breath, but still ready to fight
again. The combatants sometimes suc-
cumb to a long contest, but generally
they only take superficial damage, and
are immediately ready to feed. After
a match they are always rested for a
week or longer, according to the extent
of their injuries, and most of the rents
and cuts are repaired by nature. En-
thusiastic owners often wager six or
seven pounds or more on their favor-
ites, and mary people earn a little
money in this way by breeding fighting
fish and then backing them against
others.—London Field.

We have often read of the Siamese
fighting fish, and always thought that
these fish resembled, as far as their
mode of combat is concerned, the Chi-
nese Paradise fish. We have never seen
one of the former, nor have we a de-
scription regarding their size and color,
but judging by the manner of combat
as described in the above article, we are

almost certain that the Siamese fight-
ing fish is no more nor less than the
Chinese Paradise fish ; at any rate, a
fish belonging to the same species.—
Ed. AQUARIUM.

SNAILS.

Regarding the strength of snails, a
man of inquiring mind writes: One
day, having found a fine specimen, I
tied a fine cord around his shell after
having fastened a bit of iron to the
other end of the same, in order to keep
him until I needed him. The iron was
bigger than he was, and I supposed it
heavy enough to hold him, until my
attention was attracted by a dragging,
scraping sound on the window-sill,
where I had corralled my captive. This
aroused my curiosity, and I determined
to find out how much one snail could
pull. I loosened the string from the
bit of iron and made it fast to a letter
scales, and watched Mr. Snail as he
pulled the indicator around to very
nearly nine ounces. Then I took a
little match box, such as matches are
bought in, put it on two pencils by way
of wheels, and proceeded to hitch up
my snail. I then loaded up my minia-
ture cart with cents, and found he
could still pull it to a weight of nine
and a quarter ounces ; that is, about
twenty times his own weight, which
was half an ounce.

A four year-old boy died this spring,
poisoned by drinking water from a
tumbler in which lilies of the valley
had been kept. Few people have an
idea how poisonous some flowers are,
especially the lily of the valiey, and it
should be the rule in every house to
keep cut flowers only in tlower vases,
and at no time to use tumblers for that
purpose.

184

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

THE AQUARIUM.

A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE.

50 cts. a Year. Single Copies, 25 cts. Each.
Sample Copies Free.

Advertising Rates on Application.

HUGO MULERTT, F.1.R.S.A.,
Editor and Publisher,
173 Nostrand Av., Brooklyn, N. Y.

THE NEW YORK AQUARIUM.

Although the New York daily and
Sunday press were, for the last two years,
full of praises for this new institution,
built by the city of New York, while it
was yet in process of construction,
giving startling accounts of its superi-
ority over any public aquarium hereto-
fore built in the world (which articles
were promptly reprinted by the country
press, illustrations and all), THE
AQUARIUM (your Editor) had absolutely
nothing to say regarding the work. We
even refused to write it up for a mag-
azine published in New York, as we
could say nothing in its favor and did
not care to criticise an unfinished job.
The contracts had been given out; so
what good could have been expected
from calling attention to the defects in
its construction? When the proper
time had come, however, when our
opinion was asked by the proper par-
ties, we did not hesitate to give it
frankly : ‘‘ The plant will not work !”
(Compare last issue of THE AQUAR-
IUM.)
It startled the New Yorkers when
they read it the following morning.
The result is a good one. The ball
was started to rolling; the scientific
experts ‘‘found” in a similar sense,
and the result was the resignation of
the superintendent who had planned it
and under whose direction it was built.

Dr. Tarleton H. Bean, who is now

in charge as the new superintendent,
has been for many years connected
with the U. 8. Fish Commission and
the Smithsonian Institution. He has
considerable practical experience, and
as an ichthyologist his reputation is a
very flattering one.

As the aquarium had been constructed
on wrong principles from the very start,
several absolutely necessary changes are
now being made. The entire lower row
of tanks will be changed, in sizes as
well as in their shapes ; the roof will be
raised some nine feet, to secure better
circulation of air for the upper tanks,
while two large storage tanks will be
constructed for ‘‘ resting” the water.
This work will, in our opinion, take up
the balance of this year, and we may not
be able to see the New York Aquarium
opened much before Christmas.

We shall keep our readers informed
regarding the progress made, and when
once completed we will have, regularly,
illustrated articles treating of whatever
may be of especial interest.

—— >

EXHIBITION AQUARIUMS.

In the last issue of THE AQUARIUM
we spoke of shapes of aquariums prin-
cipally intended for private use. In
the following article we will show by
examples how single tanks, or a series
of them, are best arranged for public
expositions.

From the twin aquarium for a school
corridor, as described in the article re-
ferred to above, to the exposition aquar-
ium, is but one step. The two main
points to be kept in view when con-
structing a series of tanks for public
use, aside from the proper location of
them, of course, are: (1st) to secure
proper protection to the collection
against injury by spectators, caused

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895. 185

either through ignorance or by an in-
born inclination for destructiveness ;
and (2d) to allow ample elbow-room
behind the tanks (‘‘ behind the scene”’
would be quite proper here) for the
aquarist, that he may be able to work
about, and arrange, the tanks and wait
upon his charge at any time undis-
turbed.

We experienced sad losses when,
many years ago, we first began to display

desired, and the policeman in charge
of that part of the hall—why, he en-
joyed it as much as the rest of them,
and declared that the next time he
would go out fishing, he would use that
same kind of bait.

We knew, at least we thought so
then, how to stop fishing and feeding
our specimens. All that was required
was a wire netting over the tanks. So
we had these made with dispatch, and

A SECTION OF THE BERLIN AQUARIUM.

collections of aquatic life to the public.
At first, when we innocently displayed
our collection entirely unprotected, we
mourned the loss of choice specimens
that had been stolen. The water was
frequently spoiled by people feeding
the animals with almost anything pos-
sible and impossible, including pre-
served fruits and ice creain; even the
small boy with the proverbial “pin-
hook”? fastened to a thread, was repre-
sented. At one timea boy attracted
quite a crowd around one of the aquar-
iums, because he used a certain kind
of bait that hooked nearly any fish he

when we covered our collection with
them we felt that their safety was se-
cured. But little did we know inquis-
itive man (we do not say woman). To
look at an animal in captivity, no mat-
ter what element it is in, without at
least trying to poke it, seems to be im-
possible for a great many people. The
spectators would now poke their para-
sols or fan-handles through the screens,
and when the mesh of the screens
proved too small for these, some did
not find it too much trouble to use
their hat-pins for the purpose. It gave
them so much pleasure when they hit

-CINCINNAT!:-O.1838-

=
\ >
i
cr
=)
os
a
0)

‘CENTENNIAL: EXPOSITION:

+ we ; =
==
$0

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895. 187

them ‘‘right close to the eye.” The
feeding-fiend misunderstood the mean-
ing of the screens entirely. Of course,
no one but ‘‘ city folks ” could think of
preventing these dear little fishes from
partaking of their luncheon—consisting
principally of home-made pie. They
would go to the trouble of breaking it
into sufficiently small pieces and force
it through the meshes. Two young
ladies we will never forget, as we
caught them in the act, busily engaged,
both on the same tank, feeding the fish
with sponge cake, using the protective
(?) screen for a grater. Good-natured
and polite, we stopped their proceed-
ings, and were informed by them that
we need not fear any bad effects, be-
cause they had baked the cake them-
selves, it being no ‘‘ bought stuff.” We
had no doubt as to the quality of the
cake, for the fish had literally filled
themselves up with it; and we were
compelled to renew the water of this
tank at once. If we inform you that
the tank held a barrelful, you can meas-
ure our appreciation of home-made
Kentucky sponge cake. These few ex-
amples were caused by sweet innocence;
but when one drops a box of sulphur
matches, chewing tobacco, and, in one
ease, a chunk of unslaked lime (which
he had to bring from outside the expo-
sition grounds), into a tank, or cuts
the glass with the diamond of a ring,
we think it is done with bad intent.
On another occasion we had our dis-
play guarded by iron railings, made of
gas pipe. It is true this kept the ob-
server at a safer distance, but it like-
wise made the display less interesting,
especially to the younger generation.
On succeeding occasions we displayed
our collection in show-window fashion.
This arrangement guarantees entire
satisfaction, both to the exhibitor and

the observer. We used this method
first in 1879, and it has shown that it
covers all wants.

In order to obtain the most striking
effects, the tanks should be in conven-
ient height to the eyes of the observer;
the shape of the tanks should be long,
rather than high, with sufficient depth
(toward the rear) to admit the forma-
tion of a proper background.

The all important light is controlled
by adjustable screens. Very beautiful

CAVE OR UNDERGROUND AQUARIUM.

effects can thus be secured with either
daylight or artificial light. For light-
ing up the tanks at dark, the light
should enter the water from above the
surface of the water, and as much from
the front as possible, keeping it (the
light itselt) out of the spectator’s view.
The outside space, the walk or passage
in which the observer is, should be but
dimly lighted, if lighted at all. The
effect that is produced in this way is
somewhat similar to that produced by
a small bull’s-eye lantern fastened in
front of your hat. There will be no
shadow between you and the object you
desire to observe.

The accompanying sketch of one of
our aquatic displays will give the reader

188 THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895,

a pretty clear illustration of this
method. The figure in the distance
shows the comparative height and size
of the tanks.

As will be seen, only the front of
each tank faces the observer. He can
see all that should be seen and is abso-
lutely prevented from injuring the con-
tents. The display in such tanks can
be made very effective, it being possible
to arrange everything in proper focus.

The screen or protective wall of a
series of such tanks may be of any de-
sign. In connection with a floral dis-
play we found a rustic design best. A
cave-like or underground arrangement
is also very beautiful. The famous
Berlin Aquarium is built on that prin-
ciple altogether.

~~

FANGS OF SERPENTS.

The venomous serpents are divided
into two groups, namely, Solenoglypha,
including the rattlesnakes, vipers, etc.,
and Proteroglypha, embracing the cob-
ras, coral or bead snake (Zaps) and
venomous water snakes of the East
(Hydrophide). Fortunately, harmless

serpents are, throughout the world, by .

far the most numerous. In the States
north of Maryland, there are only two
species of poisoned-fanged’ serpents
(the rattlesnake and copperhead), while
the non-venomous number eighteen
species.

The fangs of serpents vary in num-
ber, shape and size. In the viper (Pe-
lias berus), the only venomous one of
the three species of serpents found in
Great Britain, the fangs are two in
number, and are situated in the super-
ior maxillary bones. There are no
other teeth in the maxille, but there
is a row of small teeth in the palatine
bone on each side. The bite of the

viper is often extremely painful, but
rarely, if ever, fatal. The viper is not
found in the United States.

I remember on one occasion, in Mary-
land, a gentleman conducted me toa
wood to show me a ‘‘ viper” he had a
short time before killed, and gravely
informed me that it was an ‘‘ extreme-
ly dangerous species.” It, however,
proved to bea harmless hog-nose snake
(Heterodon platyrhinus).

The fangs of the rattlesnake (Cro-
talus) are also two in number, situated
as in the viper. They are curved back-
ward, and hollow, save at the tips,
where they are solid, and turned
slightly forward. ‘The minute opening
through which the venom is ejected is
in front, about one twelfth of an inch
from the needle-like point. The glands
in which the venom is secreted, are
oval and almond-shaped, two in num.
ber, situated on either side of the up-
per jaw, behind the eye. Each gland
has a duct connecting with the base of
its fang. These poison ducts are kept
closed by an arrangement of muscular
fibres when the fangs are not in use,
but at the moment when the snake
strikes, these ducts are forced open by
certain muscles of the head, and the
poison shoots through the ducts and
out of the openings near the points of
the fangs into the wound. When not
in use the fangs lie upon the gums in
the roof of the mouth, buried in the
folds of the mucous membrane.

The deadly machuca of Nicaragua
(Bothrops atrozx) has four great fangs
in the upper jaw, two on each side.
In view of the serious results which
have followed the bite of our Crotalus
and moccasin armed with only two
fangs, how much more deadly must be
the machuca, driving venom into four
wounds at once!

THE AQUARIUM,

The beautiful harlequin or bead
snakes (H/apide) are provided with two
or more nearly permanently erect,
grooved fangs in the upper jaw. These
are generally small, not greatly curved
and project only slightly below the
nasal membrane. The poison glands
of our Southern species of Hiaps are
small when compared with the above-
mentioned serpents. ‘They are gener-
ally considered harmless snakes.

DRAGON FLIES.

39 66

‘** Dragon flies,” ‘‘ mosquito hawks,”
‘‘devil darning-needles ” — these are
some of the curious names for certain
well-known neuropterous insects of the
family Libellulide. They are common-
lv seen skimming in swift flight over
the surfaces of ponds and other bodies
of still water. The head and thorax
are greatly enlarged—the eyes entirely
covering the sides of the former—and

LARV2 OF DRAGON FLy.

the hind body is very long and slender,
terminating in the male with a pair of
clasps, for seizing the female. The
two pairs of wings are nearly equal in
size, transparent, and finely netted,
and in many species clouded with broad
bands of brown, blue, or crimson. The
flies attach their eggs to the submerged
leaves of aquatic plants, or drop them
carelessly upon the surface of the water.

The larve are aquatic, living at the
bottom of the pool or stream they
inhabit, and breathing by means of
trachec, situated in the tail. ‘They are
further characterized by what is known
as a *‘mask,” which is an elbowed ex-
tension of the Jabiwm, or under lip, and

WY, 1895: 189

is armed at the extremity with two
sharp hooks for seizing and holding the
prey. When not in use, this apparatus
is folded up over the lower part of the
face, but, to grasp a victim, may be sud-
denly thrust forward.

These dragon fly larve feed upon
young mosquitoes or ‘‘ wrigglers,” and
other aquatic insects, particularly the
young of May flies (phemeride).
They are active and predacious, in the
pupa as well as in the larva and perfect
states. When about to change into a
fly, the pupa leaves the water and
crawls upon some plant or other object
above the surface of the water. After
clinging there a short time a rent ap-
pears on the top of the thorax, through
which the fly emerges.

AMERICAN LOTUS.
(Nelumbium luteum.)

The Lotus is America’s greatest floral
giant, even surpassing its terrestrial
cousin, the stately magnolia, in
size of flower, delicacy of coloring
and profusion of bloom. It was
a favorite plant with the aborig-
ines, and was said by them to be the
oldest child of the great ‘‘ Father of
Waters.” The seeds were used exten-
sively for beads, and were used as an
article of food under the name ‘‘yonker
pins.” It was carried northward to Indi-
ana and Illinois, and even as far as New
York and Massachusetts. Great thickets
of them were in cultivation on the middle
waters of the Tennessee and Cumber-
land rivers at the time of the settle-
ment by the whites. ‘The oldest citi-
zens now living in those sections can
remember when the Indians would
come and gather all the seeds they
could carry away ; and some think the
roots were also used for food by some
tribes. ‘The Indian’s arrow is modeled
almost exactly after the long flower
spikes, while his war club is a crude
imitation of the large torus ; so that
while the Lotus of the sacred Nile had
its worshipers, and the Lotus of the sa-
cred Ganges its votaries and pupils, the
lotus of the sacred Mississippi had, at
least, its admirers. G. Boke

190 THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

Britt Weed.

Way THe JevuyrisH Has No Bones.—
Every admirer of Japanese art is familiar
with the peculiar attitudes in which the
artist has represented the objects he used
for decorative purposes. TheJapanese is a
great lover and accurate observer of Nature.
He uses both the animal and vegetable
kingdom with great success in decoration.
Only a very few scenes represented on
bronzes, porcelain or in embroidery, etc.,
are understood by our people, and this is
because their literature andlegends are as
yet but very little known.

As little as the Japanese would under-
stand the meaning of a bronze bass-relef
representing the awakening of Rip van
Winkle, or the descent of the Indian maiden
over the falls of the Niagara, or pictures
illustrating the Song of Hiawatha, just as
strange in appearance are those decorations
tousthat illustrate their legends, fables or
history. Our admiration for their works
of art is based principally upon their artistic
merits in regard to color-effects or forms.

From a little booklet entitled ‘‘ The Silly
Jellyfish: a Japanese Fairy Tale,” which
we picked up in one of the Japanese stores
of this city, we abstract the following :

*‘The king of the dragons, who had lived
for a long time as a bachelor, decided to get
married. His bride was a young drago-
nette, just sixteen years old and very
lovely. All the fishes, great and small,
came to pay their respects to their queen.
But before long the young queen became
quite ill. The doctors had given her up,
when the queen expressed the wish to eat a
live monkey’s liver, which she knew would
certainly cure her.

‘* A live monkey was very hard to obtain,
as dragons live in the sea; and her husband
told her so. But she cried, and finally said
that she wished she had staid at home with
her own mammaand papa. This, of course,
startled her husband. He at once ordered
his servant, a jellyfish, to swim across the
sea to the monkey land and induce one of
these creatures to come with him.

‘Tn those days jellyfish had bones, eyes,
fins, and even little legs to enable them to
crawl about on shore. It did not take this

fish many hours until he had reached the
shore where he knew monkeys could be
met, and luck favored him, as he met one
on a tree close by the sea.

“Tt was not very hard to induce the in-
quisitive monkey to go back with him to see
the wonderful dragon land. While the jelly-
fish swam across the sea again, carrying the
monkey on his back, thought came to the lat-
ter that not everything might be right. He
could not see why an entire stranger should
do or promise him any favors when he had no
object in view. He thereupon cutely turned
the conversation and learned that his liver
was needed for the sick dragon queen.
‘Why didn’t you tell me so before?’ he re-
plied, ‘as nothing wouldsuit me better than
to be of service to your queen. J would in
that case have taken my liver with me. Our
liver being rather heavy, we monkeys hang
it up in the top of a tree when we are play-
ing, and I see no other way than to go back
and get it. A monkey without a liver
being of no use to the jellyfish, he was
obliged to swim back t» the land. When
the monkey had reached the shore again he
climbed into a large tree and advised the
jellyfish to return without him.

‘*On his return to the king the jellyfish
told what had happened, and this silly
action made the king so mad that he
ordered him whipped until all the bones
within his body were broken. And this is
the reason, according to the Japanese
legend, why jellyfish have no bones.”

We remember having seen a large bronze
tablet showing a monkey on a tree making
motions toward a fish in the water. This,
no doubt, alludes to that ‘‘ confidence
game” between the jellyfish and the
monkey.

DANGEROUS BouQquEts.—A lady of
Macon, Georgia, was arranging a beau-
tiful floral design as a tribute to be laid
upon the casket containing a departed
friend. In selecting the leaves from -
the plant euphorbia, the stem produc-
ing them was broken, when a drop of
sap was spattered into her eye. In-
flammation immediately followed, which
extended down her cheek, and her
hands, which wiped away the tears from
her eyes, were similarly affected.

THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895.

191

For the small sum of fifty cents in advance,
which pays for a year’s subscription to THE
AQUARIUM, you are entitled to ask informa-
tion on any point regarding the aquarium or
the window garden. We offer no other prem-
ium to our subscribers than that of putting
over 25 years of practical experience in these

branches at their disposal. Ask as many
questions as you please, but please to enclose
postage for reply. All questions are answered
by mail, and we publish only such in these
columns as are of general interest.

>.

Will correspondents of this department
please co-operate with us by reporting to
the Editor the results obtained from advice
given in these columns? Such informa-
tion would be a great benefit to others in
want of similar information.

—

C. K.—B.—Aquarium plants should be
planted on the same principle as one plants
garden plants, but they should be handled
very carefully in order not to break or bruise
them. Remove all water from the tank,
leaving only the sand on the bottom, which
should cover the latter to a depth of 13 to
2inches. In this you make little dents,
large enough to admit spreading of the
roots of the plants, and these—the roots—
you cover carefully and well with wet sand,
finally covering the latter with a few peb-
bles of the size of a walnut. This done,
the tank may be refilled with water.

The answer to the question, how often
the water should be changed in an aquari-
um, is a very simple one: As often as it be-
comes necessary. How frequent this will be
depends on :

1. The number of fish contained in the
tank.

2. Their size.

3. Their kinds.

4. Season of the year.

5. Position (location) of the tank and its
surroundings:

a. The temperature of the room.
6. The use made of this.

c, What exposure.

d. How far from the window.

You will see that your question requires
an, apparently, complicated answer, which,
however, may be condensed in the follow-
ing:

The best light for an aquarium is a north-
ern or eastern exposure. An aquarium
should have as much light as possible, but
no sun, in order to encourage the growth
of the plants. Fish should be regularly
fed, but all unconsumed food at once re-
moved from the water.

If the air in the room is pure, and the
fish come to and remain near the surface of
the water, gasping atmospheric air, it indi-
cates that they suffer from want of oxygen.
Some fish must be removed from the tank
in such a ease, or, more or different kinds
of plants must be introduced to the collec-
tion. ,

If it becomes necessary to change the
water of an aquarium at all, it proves that
the principles indicated above are not
understood, or are overlooked.

To manage an aquarium successfully is
not at all hard, but it will take some time
and experience: for anyone to study the
‘‘why’s” and ‘‘ what-for’s;,” but just this
fact makes an aquarium so interesting, and

Dm)

remoyes it out of the ‘‘ toy ” sphere.

A. E.S.—The disease you describe in
your letter is a new one to us. It may have
been caused by over-feeding, or impure
water. ‘Too frequent meat diet is very in-
jurious to goldfish, and frequently is the
cause of bloody streaks or spots in their
fins.

As with all diseases, it is a great deal
easier to prevent them than it is to cure
them. Keep your fish, sick or not sick,
under proper conditions, and disease will
be an unknown guest to you. Ina special
case, as the one described in your letter,
we would leave the fish in healthy surround-
ings, isolated of course, to its fate. This
treatment has many points in its favor.

G. A. S.—Aquarium plants grow best in
sharp river or sea sand. Soilis too unclean

192 THE AQUARIUM,

JULY, 1895.

for an aquarium, causing a great deal of
annoyance.

It is not necessary to remove the parent
Paradise fish from their young, until the
second brood is about a week old. If the
tank is well supplied with plants, and gets
a good light, it is not necessary to feed the
young until they have attained the size of a
erain of wheat. Then they should receive
several meals a day of powdered I. X. L.
fish-food.

Dr. B.—The reason why your Sagittaria
New Era has not yet bloomed may be that
it hasn’t a good light. You know, we sup-
pose, that if you want to have a pot-plant
in bloom, it is necessary to give it a posi-
tion where it getsplenty of light. It is the
same with aquarium plants. However, it
is not necessary that an aquarium plant
should bloom in order to be of special ben-
efit to the aquarium. This benefit can only
be of an ornamental character. On the con-
trary, when the plant is in bloom, it uses
most, if not all, its strength to perfect the
flower and to ripen the seeds at the ex-
pense of the foliage and side branches,
which are really the most important parts
of the plant when used as an oxygenator.
Tf one has plenty of vegetation in his aquar-
ium, he should encourage some of his
plants to bloom; otherwise, not, for reasons
given above.

The male Pafadise fish kills the female
by biting. They torment them sometimes
terribly, tearing off whole pieces of skin,
with scales attached, or by picking out their
eyes: Insuch cases they are best separa-
ted for good, as something seems to be
about the female which he abhors. It is
safest when mating a new set, to provide
plenty of shelter for the female. Inall our
experience we have lost but one female,
and this was many years ago, ere we had
learned to protect them.

P. W. A.—There is nothing serious the
matter with your goldfish. That ‘‘stringy
scum, white in appearance ” that leaves the
fish, is caused by the character of the food
youuse. Feed some I. X. L. fish food to
them, or occasionally treat them with small
pieces of young earth-worms. The white
spots on the fins of the fish may be a white
worm, or colonies of tiny worm-like crea-

tures. Examine these spots with a magni-
fying glass, and if you find the former to
be the case, these can easily be removed
with the aid of a microscopic forceps, or,
if the latter be the cause, by touching
the spots with a camel-hair brush dipped
in strong salt water.

To perform an operation of this kind, the
fish is best removed from the aquarium and
placed in a shallow dish of water, for in-
stance, ina white soup-plate. Everything
necessary for the operation should be in
readiness before removing the fish from the
tank, in order to inconvenience the fish as
little as possible. The operation performed,
the fish should be gently returned to the
aquarium.

J. G. E.—The reason why your goldfish
have not yet spawned may be the long
winter we have had this year, which has so
weakened some of the fish, that some
time is required to bring them in condition
to spawn. If you could feed them on liy-
ing food, such as flea-crabs, mosquito lar-
vee, crushed young snails, etc., this would
help them along.

—_——

The destruction to the sod and shrub-
bery in Central Park, New York, since
the lawns were thrown open to the
public has been so great that the Park
Commissioners have been compelled to
replace the signs, ‘‘ Keep off the grass.”

This number completes Vol. III. of
THE AQuARiIuM. We are pleased to
state that the favor with which our
little publication is received by the read-
ing public is a flattering one, every
mail adding new subscribers to our list.

The first number of Vol. IV. will
have as a supplement the title page and
index for Vol. III. Please renew your
subscription promptly and secure this.

With many thanks to our patrons,
we remain,

Respectfully,
Your Epiror.

eo