The merot may also be added to the happy family, notwithstanding
the antipathy against it on account of its resemblance to the lizard ; it
is perfectly harmless. During the breeding season it exhibits a variety
of shining colors— orange, olive, green, with a mottling of brown and
scarlet. The water spider is a curious insect, and, if possible, should
be secured for the aquarium. It spends the greater part of its time
beneath the water, coming to the surface to seize its prey, and to obtain
a fresh supply of air for its sub-aquatic home. Reclining figures of
plaster may be added, and if the tank be a large one, an artificial island
of stones, mosses and ferns, with a siphon fountain, may be in the
middle.
Feed your fish all the worms, meat or fish spawn that they will eat.
Take great care to take all that they do not eat out of the aquarium ;
any decayed meat or vegetables in water have the same smell to fish
that it has to you in the air. Two snails added will act as scavengers.
4 AQUARIUMS.
Do not handle the fish, but take them out with a net made of mos-
quito netting". An aquarium properly stocked and managed is hardly
any trouble, and it affords a great deal of pleasure.
Never feed the fish crackers or other food, for it fills their gills and
suffocates them. With the above hints, nearly every one can make a
home for the fish and keep them, if they do not neglect them, for many
years.
The best position for an aquarium is in a window looking towards
the east, where it will not have more than two hours of the morning
sun. If such a location cannot be given, put it in a southern window,
but shade from the noonday sun. A western or northern aspect is
never desirable for an aquarium. The temperature is also of impor-
tance. It should range from 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water
becomes too warm the fish will die. If it freezes, the tank may burst.
CARE OF GOLD AND SILVER FISH.
Take a bell glass that will hold about two gallons of water, and set
it into a box two feet long, twelve inches wide, and eight or ten inches
high, or of any dimensions desired. Fill the box with a mixture of
silver sand, leaf mold and earth, placing your inverted glass in the cen-
ter of the box ; around this place ferns and lycopodium ; cover the box
with glass, so that it will be nearly air-tight, to retain the moisture.
The plants will require water about once a month ; in the bell glass
make a thick bed of sand, pebbles and small shells, and fill with per-
fectly pure water, and two gold fish or minnows, and a few aquatic
plants, as they, under the action of the light, consume the carbonic acid
gas given forth by the fish, and restore to the water the oxygen neces-
sary to the maintenance of life. Snails are useful also to act as scaven-
gers to consume the vegetable matter thrown off by the plants, and
render it unnecessary to change the water so frequently, which would
otherwise become greenish and untransparent. A change once a week
will keep the fish in good health ; but an aquarium fairly established with
a proper proportion of plants and fish will preserve its healthfulness
without change of water, more than to fill it up as the water evaporates.
Page 9
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The merot may also be added to the happy family, notwithstanding the antipathy against it on account of its resemblance to the lizard ; it is perfectly harmless. During the breeding season it exhibits a variety of shining colors— orange, olive, green, with a mottling of brown and scarlet. The water spider is a curious insect, and, if possible, should be secured for the aquarium. It spends the greater part of its time beneath the water, coming to the surface to seize its prey, and to obtain a fresh supply of air for its sub-aquatic home. Reclining figures of plaster may be added, and if the tank be a large one, an artificial island of stones, mosses and ferns, with a siphon fountain, may be in the middle.
Feed your fish all the worms, meat or fish spawn that they will eat. Take great care to take all that they do not eat out of the aquarium ; any decayed meat or vegetables in water have the same smell to fish that it has to you in the air. Two snails added will act as scavengers.
4 AQUARIUMS.
Do not handle the fish, but take them out with a net made of mosquito netting". An aquarium properly stocked and managed is hardly any trouble, and it affords a great deal of pleasure.
Never feed the fish crackers or other food, for it fills their gills and suffocates them. With the above hints, nearly every one can make a home for the fish and keep them, if they do not neglect them, for many years.
The best position for an aquarium is in a window looking towards the east, where it will not have more than two hours of the morning sun. If such a location cannot be given, put it in a southern window, but shade from the noonday sun. A western or northern aspect is never desirable for an aquarium. The temperature is also of importance. It should range from 45 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water becomes too warm the fish will die. If it freezes, the tank may burst.
CARE OF GOLD AND SILVER FISH.
Take a bell glass that will hold about two gallons of water, and set it into a box two feet long, twelve inches wide, and eight or ten inches high, or of any dimensions desired. Fill the box with a mixture of silver sand, leaf mold and earth, placing your inverted glass in the center of the box ; around this place ferns and lycopodium ; cover the box with glass, so that it will be nearly air-tight, to retain the moisture. The plants will require water about once a month ; in the bell glass make a thick bed of sand, pebbles and small shells, and fill with perfectly pure water, and two gold fish or minnows, and a few aquatic plants, as they, under the action of the light, consume the carbonic acid gas given forth by the fish, and restore to the water the oxygen necessary to the maintenance of life. Snails are useful also to act as scavengers to consume the vegetable matter thrown off by the plants, and render it unnecessary to change the water so frequently, which would otherwise become greenish and untransparent. A change once a week will keep the fish in good health ; but an aquarium fairly established with a proper proportion of plants and fish will preserve its healthfulness without change of water, more than to fill it up as the water evaporates.