Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing tliis resource, we liave taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.
We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for in forming people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at |http: //books .google .com/I

A HANDBOOK

TO THE

MARINE AQUARIUM:

CONTAINING

PflACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR

CONSTRUCTING, STOCKING, AND MAINTAINING A TANK,

AND FOR COLLECTING PLANTS AND ANIMALS.

BY

PHILIP HENRY GOSSE, A.L.8.

LONDON :
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.

HDCCCLT.

//^ . c .s<^ ,

PREFACE.

The increasing popularity of the Marine Aquarium
demands a Handbook of Practical Instructions
for establishing and maintaining it, and I am
probably the most proper person to write such a
book. Perhaps it might have been sufficient to refer
inquirers to my volume on the subject ; but the
price of that work, arising mainly from the cost-
liness of its illustrations, puts it beyond the power
of many persons, who yet desire to keep marine
animals. The main portion of that volume is,
moreover, occupied with the habits and manners
of the tenants in an Aquarium.

The concluding chapter of that work has formed
the ground of the present Handbook. The whole,

VI PREFACE.

however, has been re-written, and copious addi-
tions have been made, bringing it up to the present
state of our experience. The price at which it
is issued will, it is hoped, bring it within the
reach of all.

P. H. G.

London,

October, 1855.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

INTRODUCTION 1

THE TANK 4

Form, Size, and Matebiai^ ib.

Covering 9

Aspect 10

Cost ib.

THE PREPARATION 11

Artificial Rocks, Corals, &c ib.

The Bottom 12

Water 13

Artificial Sea-water 14

THE STOCK 19

Plants ib.

Animals 20

Procuring Specimens 21

Transmission op Specimens 22

Vlll CONTENTS.

PAG£

GENERAL DIRECTIONS 25

Purification ib.

Occasional Death 26

Instruments 27

Artificial Aeration ib.

Evaporation 30

Cleansing the Sides 31

Turbidity 34

Food 36

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING '37

Time ib.

Implements 38

Collecting Sea-weeds 39

Collecting Animals 45

Dredging . 47

Towing ib.

HANDBOOK

OF

THE MAEINE AQUABIUM.

An Aquarium is simply a vessel of water in which
aquatic plants, or animals, or both, are preserved
alive ; and a Marine Aquarium is, of course, such
a vessel, whose contents, animate and inanimate,
are derived from the sea.

In general it is the marine animals that form
the main source of interest, everything else being
merely accessory to these. Many of the sea-plants,
"weeds" though they are called, are indeed very
beautiful ; the elegant forms of some, the delicate
muslin-like tracery of others, the plumose lightness
of more, "fine as silkworm^s thread," and the
beautiful play of colours, red and green, which
a well-stocked Aquarium displays, as the light
is transmitted through their pellucid substance,
may claim for these objects more than an indirect
attention. Still it is true, that, in most cases, they
are preserved because they cannot be dispensed
with.

If we attempt to collect and to keep marine

B

2 THE MARINE

animals alone in sea-water, however pure it may
have been at first, it speedily becomes offensively
fetid, the creatures look sickly, and rapidly die off,
and we are glad to throw away the whole mass of
corruption.

Why is this? why should they die in our
vessels when they live so healthily in the little
pools and basins of the rock, that are no larger ?
For the very same reason that we should quickly
die in a room perfectly air-tight. The blood of all
animals requires to be perpetually renewed by the
addition to it of the element called oxygen ; and
when it cannot obtain this it becomes unfit for the
support of life. Terrestrial animals obtain this
gaseous element from the air; aquatic animals (that
is, those which are strictly such) obtain it from the
water. But in either case it is principally produced
by living plants while under the action of light If,
then, we can furnish our captives with a perpetual
manufactory of oxygen, the main cause of their
sudden death is removed. Of course they have
other requirements, but this is the most urgent, the
indispensable.

In a state of nature, the rocks, the crannies, the

f)Ools, the sea-bottom are studded with various
iving plants, which we call sea-weeds ; and these,
under the daily stimulus of sunlight, direct or
indirect, produce and throw off a vast quantity of
oxygen, which, by the action of the waves and
currents, is diffused through all parts of the habi-
table sea, and maintains the health of its countless
swarms of animals.

In an Aquarium we seek to imitate this chemistry
of nature. We collect the plants as well as the
animals ; and, a little observation teaching us how

AQUARIUM. 3

to proportion the one to the other, we succeed in
maintaining, on a small scale, the balance of animal
and vegetable life. Other less important benefits
result from this arrangement; the creatures love
retirement and shelter, and this they find in the
umbrageous fronds; they delight to roam and to
play and to rest in the feathery tufts, and not a
few find their favourite food in the delicate leaves
of the submerged herbs.

On the other hand, the plant is indebted to the
animal for some of its supplies. The carbon, with
which its solid parts are built up, is derived from
the carbonic acid which is thrown off by animals
in the process of breathing ; a poisonous gas which
would soon vitiate the water were it not taken up
and appropriated by the plants.

Such, then, is the principle on which the Aqua-
rium is founded ; ana any conditions under wnich
it can be carried out will serve, provided of course
they be suitable in other respects to the habits of
the animals and our purpose in keeping them, I
now proceed to other details on the practical
management, so far as I am able, from my own
experience, and that of not a few of my friends,
to give them ; premising that I have at present
(September, 1855) at my residence at Islington,
one marine tank full of animals and plants in the
highest condition, the water in which, though
as clear as crystal and quite colourless, has never
been even removed from the vessel since it was
first put in, nineteen months ago. I have, also,
other tanks and vases, which are respectively seven-
teen, fourteen, thirteen, and four months old. The
successftJ establishment of these has not been
achieved without some failures and losses, which

b2

THE TANK.

yet must not be considered as unmitigated mis-
fortunes, since they have added to my experience,
and better fitted me to understand and sympathize
with the difficulties of other beginners.

THE TANK.

Form, Size, and Materials. — So much depends
on individual taste and means in this respect, as
well as on the situation which the Aquarium is
intended to occupy, that no rule can be laid down
for dimensions. Mv largest tank (now in use as
2^ fresh water Aquarium), is a parallel-sided vessel,
two feet long, one and a half foot wide, one and a
half foot deep ; the sides and ends of plate glass,
three-sixteenths thick ; the bottom, a slab of slate
one inch thick ; the corners of birch-wood, turned
into pillars, each surmounted by a knob, and united
by a frame-top or bar going all round. The glass
is set in grooves in the slate and wood, and fastened
with white-lead putty. I have two others agreeing
with this in all respects, except in dimensions, the
smallest being (in the clear) fifteen inches long,
twelve inches wide, and twelve inches deep. This
is a very neat and pretty object for a parlour table,
and will hold at least fifty animals appreciable to
the senses, provided they be well selected, and
a sufficient growth of plants established.

I have also another tank with a sloping
back, made on Mr. Warington's plan. It is of
zinc, with the back and two sides of slate, the
front and two front-sides alone being of glass. Its
form is six-sided, the front resembling a bow-

FORM, SIZE, AND MATERIALS. 5

window; it is three feet long by one foot ten
inches in greatest width, and the same in depth ;
the peculiarity is that the back slopes inward, so
that the bottom is but eight inches wide. I cannot
commend this form; its appearance is lumbering
and inelegant ; the opacity of the back and sides
throws the interior into a degree of darkness, (even
though placed in a south window,) which greatly
impedes observation; and I cannot see, by com-
parison with my others, which are of glass all
round, that the advantage anticipated, of admitting
the light only from above, is real, or at least of
sufficient importance to compensate the uninviting
gloominess alluded to. Its depth also is too great ;
a foot of water is as much as is needful for a
parlour Aquarium.

A novel mode of constructing tanks has been
suggested to me by Mr. W. Dodgson of Wigton,
Cumberland, which, as I have not tried it, I will
describe in his own words.

" I have lately been constructing two Aquariums,
and as the way in which they are made may be
new and perhaps useful to you, I take the liberty
of communicatmg it. Slate we have no oppor-
tunity of procuring in suitable pieces for joining,
and our stone is too porous for the purpose. I
therefore got the bottom and two ends made in one
piece out of the yellow clay used for garden vases,
chimney-tops, and other coarse pottery, and found
it answered exceedingly well and has several
advantages.

" Partly as a means of supporting the ends, but
principally to form artificial rockwork and shelter
for the animals, the two ends are buttressed inside
with very rough pieces of clay, put on so as to leave

6 THE TANK.

plenty of holes and fissures ; the fire fastens these
firmly together and makes them as hard as stone.
Grooves are left along the bottom, and up the two
ends, for the glass to fit into. The outside is
relieved with ornamental work. Cheapness is a
great recommendation ; the pot being charged Id.
or 2d, per hundred cubical inches, according to
the amount of ornament. I should think your
London potters would make something very neat,
and the mould once made, they could be supplied
very cheaply ; and considering their freedom from
leakage and their strength, I think they would
prove as satisfactory as any kind of cistern. Mine
are about three feet long, and thirty inches high
and broad, holding thirty gallons each. I bed the
glass with white lead, leaving about a quarter inch
in depth of the groove unfilled. When the putty
is set, I fill it up with shell-lac dissolved in naphtha
and made into a paste with whiting. This seta
very quickly; and, hard as stone, is quite insoluble,
and prevents the water from coming in contact
with the lead, which I think must constantly be
giving off small quantities of oxide."

In reply to some inquiries of mine, the same
gentleman writes me farther as follows : —

" I have delayed replying to you respecting the
price of pottery for Aquariums till I had an oppor-
tunity oi seeing the party who made mine. The
Erice of one such as you name would be 6$. or 8«.,
ut, as it would weigh four hundredweight, the
carriage to London would be quite as much. He
was rather doubtful whether with his coarse clay
he could make one the length you name to hold
together; as two or three of mine, which were
shorter, separated in the middle when being burnt,

FORM, SIZE, AND MATERIALS. 7

from the great weight of the ends preventing the
centre contracting regularly. He thinks your best
plan would be to get one of the terra-cotta workers
to make one, which he thinks he would do more
cheaply than it could be sent from here ; and their
clay being finer, a much neater article could be
made. It would be well to be on the spot, and
see the rough clay put on the ends, as workmen in
general have not much idea of what is required.

" To prevent the water filtering through the
pots, mine were well glazed inside with flint-glaze,
free from lead. Probably it would be better to
glaze the outside, and leave the inside porous."

If a cylindrical form of vessel be preferred, it can
be obtained without any material but glass in the
construction; but there is a limit as to size. I
procured from Mr. A.Pellatt's establishment a vase
of the largest dimensions they would undertake to
blow for me, viz. twelve inches in diameter. If
attempted of greater size than this, the risk increases
very rapidly, as they are liable to break in the
manufacture, and also at any moment even after they
have been some time in use. Mine, though not
free, as I was warned, from the same danger, has
hitherto survived nearly three years' service. The
height may be chosen according to taste, as the
risk does not depend on this, but on the diameter.
Mine is ten inches high. I do not recommend this
form ; it is mean and inelegant ; and as it is a
blown vessel, the sides are not truly cylindrical.

Confectioners' show-glasses are very suitable for
small specimens ; they are usually about twice as
high as broad, and are therefore more graceful.
These aflford peculiar facilities for the examination
of their contents with a lens, as they can be easily

8 THE TANK.

moved round, and may be placed before a candle
or lamp for nocturnal investierations. They may
be had of various sizes, from three to eight Wh^
in diameter ; six inches is a very convenient size.
T have made very pretty vases for minute objects
by taking the glass chimney of an Argand lamp,
and fastening a well-fitted cork into one end for a
bottom, on which I then poured black sealing-wax
varnish until a smooth water-tight surface was
formed. These are more convenient than wide-
mouthed phials, as the sides are more truly per-
pendicular, and we avoid the unequal refraction
produced by the thickened bottom of a phial.

A very pretty form of Aquarium is that of a
bell-glass with cylindrical sides, which, being
placed mouth upward, with the knobbed bottom
set in a turned stand of varnished wood, possesses
both stability and elegance. As the knob is not
fixed^ the vase may be turned round in its stand
for observation. The hollow of the bottom is filled
with sand and gravel up to the point where the
sides become perpendicular, and on this floor is
built the rock-work, &c. Such vessels, of various
sizes and prices, are provided and fitted up by
Mr. Lloyd, of St. John's Street Road.

For a conservatory, to which an Aquarium would
form an appropriate accessory, a vase-like form
might be given to a large tank. If the Outline
were octagonal, the objects in the interior would be
visible through the plate-glass without the dis-
tortion caused by unequal refraction, which is a
great objection to vessels with curvilinear sides.
But in such a situation, the chief point of view
•would be from above the surface of the water;
hence the depth should be comparatively small,

ti

COVERINa. 9

^nd the sides might recede, so as to increase the
width upwards.

A good many animals, especially Anemones,
Madrepores, Crabs and Annelides, may be kept in
broad and shallow pans, in which the water does
not exceed three or four inches in depth. The
glass pans used for milk are good for this purpose.
I have an earthenware pan with upright sides,
about five inches deep, in which I have imitated
the broken interior of a rock-pool, with irregular
projections and promontories of cement. One ad-
vantage of such a vessel is that sea-weeds may
almost be dispensed with, the extensive surface of
water absorbmg a large quantity of oxygen from
the air. An oval foot-bath of whiteware makes a
capital Aquarium.

Covering. — Within an inhabited room, or
wherever there is much liability to dust or soot, as
there is necessarily everywhere in cities and large
towns, the Aquarium may be protected by a cover.
This may be made of fine muslin, or, which is better,
of plate or sheet-glass, according to the dimensions
required. The latter may simply be laid over the
top of the vessel, allowing the escape of gases under
the edge. It should be occasionally Ufted for a
moment, to allow of a change of the superincumbent
air : — ^the necessity of this will be manifest, from the
close smell which is perceived on lifting the cover,
especially if there be many sea-weeds in the tank.

In ordinary circumstances, however, there is no
necessity for a covering of any kind. My own
tanks, though placed in an inhabited room, remain
for months together uncovered, in winter and
summer, without the least loss of transparency.
The dust speedily sinks, and is harmless.

10 THE TANK.

Aspect. — The free access of light to the plants'
is indispensable, and therefore that situation is the
best where the sun's rays fall most freely on their
leaves. It is beautiful to see the thousands of
tiny globules forming on every plant, and even all
over the stones, where the infant vegetation is
beginning to grow ; to see these globules presently
rising in rapid succession to the surface all over
the vessel, and to see this process going on unin-
terruptedly as long as the rays of the sun are
uninterrupted.

Now these globules consist oipure oxygen, elimi-
nated by the vegetation under the stimulus of
light; and as this is the vivifying principle of
animal life, the importance of the process will be
readily acknowledged. The difference between the
profusion of oxygen-bubbles produced on a sunny
aay, and the paucity of those seen in a dark, cloudy
day, or in a northern aspect, is very marked.

Yet there is one caution required. In summer
the heat of the solar rays is very great, as well as
their light; and if the vessel be small, and the
volume of water very limited, it will become tepid
in the mid-day sun, and the animals will be kiUed.
Hence in a fierce summer day, it will be desirable
to draw down the window-blind, or to interpose a
curtain of muslin, oiled-paper, or ground glass,
which will break the full power of the rays, with-
out greatly interfering with their illumination.

Cost. — On this point a hint or two, the record
of my own experience, is all that I can give. If
an Aquarium of considerable dimensions be re-
quired, one of unusual form, or much ornamented,
regular professional estimates must be taken. But
the following statements may be of use to some.

ROCKS AND CORALS. 11

The tank which I have described as measuring
24 by 18 by 18 inches, cost me SL lOs. ; the small
one of the same form, 15 by 12 by 12 inches, was
charged 21«. The sides of the former are of plate,
those of the latter sheet-glass. These prices are
barely more than the actual cost of manufacture.
The cylindrical twelve-inch glass from Pellatt's
cost 10s. Ad. Glass covers for these three tanks,
cut to shape, were 10«. more. Show-glasses are
sold by weight, and at the rate of 8rf. or 9rf. per lb.,
I think.

THE PREPARATION.

Your Aquarium being brought home, fixed [in
its intended situation, and properly seasoned, the
next thing is to fit it up as a dwelling for its living
inhabitants. Two or three points may be noticed
here.

Artificial Rocks, Corals, &c. — When the
two longer sides only of the Tank are of glass, the
two ends being made of slate, the latter should be
veiled, by being made to imitate the irregular
projections and ledges of rock, which may be done
in a very picturesque manner. For this purpose,
Roman, Portland, or other cement which hardens
under water, should be employed ; the slate must
be faced with this, which while plastic may be
fashioned into the semblance of rock. Pieces of
branching corals may be set in it, if the efiect of
such accessories be thought desirable, and cavities
may be formed here and there, into which the
iragments of stone that support growing sea-weeds

12 THE BOTTOM.

may afterwards be dropped, so that the tufts may-
droop elegantly from the mimic cliff. A more
elegant way oi appropriating branching corals, is
to make a broad foot of cement to them, plunging
the base of the branch in it while soft ; these, when
the cement has hardened, will stand on the floor of
the tank like trees, and imitate more perfectly the
mode of growth of the arborescent madrepores.

Whenever cement is used, it will be absolutely
necessary to allow it to remain in water for at
least a month, in order to soak out the free lime,
before it be introduced into the water which con-
tains animals. The water in which it is soaked
should be frequently changed, and as long as any
prismatic scum appears on the surface, the cement
is unfit for use. I have known a whole consign-
ment of animals killed in one night from a neglect
of this precaution.

The Bottom. — As very many marine animals
burrow, and as the observation of their proceedings
is very interesting, they should be provided with
the means of gratifying their inclmations. For
this purpose a layer of sand should be put on the
bottom of the tank, which may vary in depth from
one to three inches. If sand from a sea-beach can
be readily obtained, it is the most suitable; but
the next best is coarse river-sand, such as the
Thames sand commonly sold at the stone-wharves
of London for building purposes. It should be
well washed, until the water runs away clean:
fresh water will do very well for this, but it must
be drained off before the sand is put in. What is
called silver-sand, and the common yellow earthy
sand, sold in the shops for scouring, are not at all
suitable, as they wul tinge the water after any

WATER, 13

amount of washing, the former with lime, the latter
with ochre.

Small pebbles or fine gravel, likewise well
washed, may be used to vary the bottom with the
sand.

Masses of rock, of dimensions suitable to the
Aquarium, should be put in to afibrd shelter and
concealment to such animals as like the gloom.
To afibrd this in the highest degree, a fiat piece
may be set, like a table, or cromlech^ upon two or
three upright blocks ; or two tall pieces may lean
against each other, forming a rude arch; — care
being taken, whatever arrangement be chosen, that
the masses stand with stability. It is of little
consequence what sort of rock is selected, — lime-
stone, sandstone, granite, conglomerate, — but the
rougher, and the more full of cavities and angles,
the blocks are, the better will be the efiect.

Water. — The purity of the water is of great
importance. In London, sea-water may be easily
obtained, by giving a trifling fee to the master or
steward of any of the steamers that ply beyond
the mouth of the Thames, charging him to dip it
in the clear open sea, beyond the reach of rivers.
I have been in the habit of havine a twenty
gallon cask filled for me, for which I give a couple
of shillings.

The vessel in which it is conveyed requires
attention. A cask is the best, if a considerable
quantity of water is required ; but it is absolutely
indispensable either that it should be new, or at
least that nothing injurious should have been
previously contained in it, such as spirits, wine,
chemicals, acids, &c. ; since no soaking will prevent
hurtful qualities from being communicated to the

14 ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATEB.

water. Even the bungs ought to be new ; I knew
an instance in which a consignment of animals
was lost, from no traceable cause, except that the
water-cask, which was quite new, had been stopped
with a bung, which had been previously used in
a jar of some chemical solution ; yet the biing had
been, as was supposed, thoroughly soaked and
cleansed. If a cask of fir-wood can be procured it
is preferable : the wood of the oak, of wnich wine-
casks are usually made, gives out tannin or gallic
add, to the contained water, which bv its astrin-
gency converts the animal integuments mto leather;
if the water on coming out of the cask has a brown
tinge, without interfering with its transparency,
this is suspicious. If you cannot get any other
than an oak cask, let it be well seasoned for two
or three weeks before it be used, by filling it
with water (fresh or salt), changed every day.

For smaller quantities of water large jars of
stone-ware are the best, being free from every
objection arising from liability to taint or tinge.
Both casks and jars can be easily sent by railway
to any part of the kingdom : and pure water will
not spoil by delay.

Artificial Sea-water. — In July 1854, 1 pub-
lished the following communication in the " Annals
and Magazine of Natural History.''

" ON MANUFACTURED SEA-WATER FOR THE

AQUARIUM.

'^ The inconvenience, delay and expense at-
tendant upon the procuring of sea-water, from the
coast or from the ocean, I had long ago felt to be
a great difficulty in the way of a general adoption
of the Marine Aquarium. Even in London it is

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER. 15

an awkward and precarious matter; how much
more in inland towns and country places, where it
must always prove not only a hindrance, but to
the many an insuperable objection. The thought
had occurred to me, that, as the constituents of
sea-water are known, il might be practicable to
manufacture it; since all that seemed necessary
was to bring together the salts in proper pro-
portion, and add pure water till the solution was
of the proper specific gravity. . . .

" I toot Schweitzer^R analysis ; but as I found
that there was some slight difference between his
and Laurent's, I concluded that a very minute
accuracy was not indispensable. Schweitzer gives
the following analysis of 1000 grains of sea-water
taken off Brighton :—

Water

. 964-744

Chloride of sodium . . .

. 27059

Chloride of magnesium .

8-666

Chloride of potassium. .

0-765

Bromide of magnesium .

0-029

Sulphate of magnesia . .

2-295

Sulphate of lime. . . .

1-407

Carbonate of lime . . .

0033

999-998

" The bromide of magnesium and the carbonate
of lime I thought I might neglect, from the minute-
ness of their q uantities ; as also because the former
was not found at all by M. Laurent in the water
of the Mediterranean; and the latter might be
found in sufficient abundance in the fragments of
shell, coral, and calcareous algae, thrown in to
make the bottom of the Aquarium. The sulphate
of lime (plaster of Paris) also I ventured to elimi-
nate, on account of its extreme insolubility, and

16 ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATEE.

because M. Laurent finds it in excessively minute
quantity. The compotent salts were then reduced
to four, which I used in the following quantities: —

Common table salt 8^ ounces.

Epsom salts i » ^

Chloride of magnesium . • , 200 grains > m_Q_

Chloride of potassium . . . . 40 ,, ) ^'

To these salts, thrown into a jar, a little less than
four quarts of water (New River) were added, so
that the solution was of that density that a specific
gravity bubble 1026 would just sink in it.

" Tne cost of the substances was — sulph. mag.
Id. ; chloride mag. Sd. ; chlor. pot. lid. ; salt, nil;
— total, 5id. per gallon. Of course if a larger
quantity were made the cost of the materials would
be diminished, so that we may set down 5d. per
gallon as the maximum cost of sea-water thus
made.* The trouble is nothing, and no professional
skill is requisite.

" My manufacture was made on the 21st of
April, 1854. The following day I poured off about
half of the quantity made (filtering it through a
sponge in a glass funnel) into a confectioner's show-
glass. I put in a bottom of small shore-pebbles,
well washed in fresh water, and one or two frag-
ments of stone with fronds of green sea-weed
( Ulva latissima) growing thereon. I would not at
once venture upon the admission of animals, as I
wished the water to be first somewhat impregnated
with the scattered spores of the Ulva; and I
thought that if any subtle elements were thrown
off from growing vegetables, the water should have
the advantage of it, before the entrance of animal

* This was considerably over-rated : the cost is probably
about ^\d. per gallon.

ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATER. 17

life. This, too, is the order of nature ; plants first,
then animals.

" A coating of the green spores was soon depo-
sited on the sides of the glass, and bubbles of
oxygen were copiously thrown off every day under
the excitement of the sun^s light. After a week,
therefore, I ventured to put in animals as follows : —

2 Actmia mesemhrycmthemum, Coryne ramosa.

7 Serpvla triquetra, Crisia ehumea.

8 Balaniis hcUanoides. actdeata.

2 SaheUa 1 Cellepora pwmicosa.

\ 2 Sabellaria {alveolata ?) Celkilaria ciliata

2 Spio vulgaris. Bowerhankia imhricata.

1 CyrUhia {quadrangularis 1) PediceUma Belgica.

" These throve and flourished from day to day,
manifesting the highest health and vigour; the
plants (including one or two Ked Weeds that were
introduced with the animals) looked well, and the
water continued brilliantly crystalline. Within
the succeeding month, specimens oi Actinia mesem-
hryanihemum, A, anguicoma and A, clavata, sl Tro-
chus umbilicattis, and a Littorina littorea were at
different times added.

" Six weeks have now elapsed since the intro-
duction of the animals. I have just carefully
searched over the jar, as well as I could do it
without disturbing the contents. I find every one
of the species and specimens mentioned above, all
in high nealth ; with the exception of some of the
Polyzoa, viz. Crisia aculeata, Cell^ora pumicosa^
Cellularia ciliata, and Pedicellina nelgica. These
I cannot find, and I therefore conclude that they
have died out ; though, if I chose to disturb the
stones and weeds, I might possibly detect them.
These trifling defalcations do in nowise interfere

C

18 ARTIFICIAL SEA-WATEE.

with tlie conclusion, that the experiment of manu-
facturing sea-water for the Aquarium has been
perfectly successful.

" P. H. GossE.

" 68, Huntingdon Street, Bamsbury Park,
June 9, 1854."

The small quantity of water thus experimented
upon remains to this time (September 1855), having
supported animal and vegetable life ever since with-
out mterruption, a period of seventeen months. It
is as transparent as the day it was put in, rivalling
the water of the clearest rock-pool, from which it
can in no respect be distinguished, either in its
sensible qualities, or in its fitness for plants and
animals. Since that time I have made other and
larger quantities, with the same success; so that
I can confidently recommend the formula for general
adoption. The salts are sold in packets, with all
needful directions, by Mr. Bolton, a chymist in
Holbom.

It is interesting to find that the more subtile
constituents of sea-water, as Lime, Iron, Silica^
and Iodine, which I neglect in my formula, are
gradually communicated to the artificial composi-
tion by use. Dr. George Wilson, of Edinburgh,
who has analyzed portions of each of my prepara-
tions, after several months' use, finds traces therein
of all these substances, according to a Report on
the subject, just read at the Glasgow Meeting of
the British Association.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that, if you can
conveniently procure water from the sea, you should
do so by preference ; " «z non^ his utere mecumJ'^

THE STOCK. 19

THE STOCK.

As I shall presently give some instructions con-
cerning the modes of collecting both plants and
animals, a few preliminary observations are all
that will be needful here.

Plants. — ^What are the most suitable plants for
an Aquarium? Not the Oar-weeds or Tangles
[Laminarid) ; for though young specimens have
an attractive appearance, they will not live long
in captivity ; they presently begin to decay, and
slough off in slimy membranous shreds, filthy to
look at, and hurtfiil to the living creatures. The
Fuel live pretty well, but their sliminess and
ugliness are fatal to their pretensions. From the
Red and the Green orders we must make our
selection.

Of the former these will be found good. Rhyti-
phlaa pinastrotdes, the Polysiphonia, CoralUna
officinalis^ Delesserta alata, CJiondrus crispus, Fhyl-
hphora ruhens (this, especially when dreaged from
deep water, is one of the very best), the Oriffiihsics^
and some of the Galliihamnia,

Of the Green weeds Codium tomentosum does
pretty well, and affords food for some MoUusca that
will eat nothing else. The Cladophorcs are good ;
Brycypsis plumosa, a most elegant little plant,
flourishes m confinement; but the Enteromorpha
and Ulva are probably the best of all sea-weeds
for our purpose, and the most easily procured on
every shore.

The pieces of rock to which the plants are at-
tached should be as clean as possible. All adhering

C 2

20 THE STOCK.

Sponges, in particular, should be carefully scraped
off, unless they are wanted for immediate examina-
tion ; as they are almost sure to die, and corrupt
the soil and water with sulphuretted hydrogen, a
most nauseous and noxious gas, which turns every-
thing black with which it comes into contact.

Animals. — Of the animals which thrive best
in an Aquarium (speaking, of course, only from
my own limited experience and observation) the
following may be mentioned : —

Fishes. — The smaller Sticklebacks ; young speci-
mens of the Grey Mullet, which have lived for
more than three years in the Zoological Society's
Aquarium ; the Blennies and Gobies ; the Spotted
Gunnel ; the smaller Wrasses ; the Eocklings ; the
Flounder ; the Dab ; the Eels.

Mollusca, — The Sea-hare ; the Periwinkle ; the
commoner Tops ; the Purple ; the Murex ; the
Chitons; the Bullas; the Scallops; the Mussel;
the Modioles ; the Anomia ; the Oyster ; and some
of the sand-burrowing bivalves, as Venus^ Mactra^
Pullastra, &c. Gastrochaena and Saxicava, bur-
rowers in stone, may be readily kept, and are very
interesting, especially the former, which I have
had in confinement for many months, in more than
a single instance, and still possess.

Cirripedes, — The Acom-bamacles [Balamis and
Chthamalus), and the interesting little Pyrgoma,
which is invariably found cemented to the plates
of our larger Madrepore.

Crustacea. — The Strawberry Crab ; the Swim-
ming Crabs; the Shore Crab; the Ebalta; the
Masked Crab ; the Soldier Crabs; the Broad-clawed
Crab; the Shrimps; the true Prawns; ihQ Atharuis ;
many of the Mitomostraca.

PROCURING SPECIMENS. 21

Anneltdes. — The Gold-comb; the Sahellas;
the Serpulas ; the Sea Leech ; the Long Worm ;
the Terebellas.

Zoophytes. — Many species of Sea Anemone,
(except the Thick-horn, nunodes crassicornis^ which
is precaiious) ; both sj)ecies of Madrepore.

The foUomng are interesting, ana may be pre-
served for a considerable time, but are rather more
uncertain. Among Fishes, the Sea-scorpion ( Cot--
tus) ; the 15-spined Stickleback ; the Butterfly
Blenny ; the Suckers ; the Pipe-fishes. Among
MOLLUSCA, all the Nudibranch, and most of the
Tectibranch species ; the Naticce, the Cowry, the
Whelk; the little RisaocB ; the Phasianella ; the
Cup-and-Saucer [Calyptrcea) ; the lovely little
Acmea ; many Bivalves ; the Cynthi(B, and Ascidia.
Among Crustacea, the Pises ; the Portuni; small
specimens of the Common Crab and Lobster ; the
Hippolytes; Pandalus; Gammarus; Idotea. Among
Annelides, the Sea Mouse; the Nereides; and
the Planama. Of Echinoderms, the Cribella,
PalmipeSy Asterina, Astertas, Echirms and Ctuyu-
maria.

Procuring Specimens. — By far the most in-
teresting mode of acquiring your stock, is the
collection of them by your own personal research.
But as this is not in every case practicable, we
must have recourse to the labours of others. Mr.
William Thompson at Weymouth, and Mr. James
Heale at Hfracombe, supply specimens from these
localities ; and, in London, Mr. W. A. Lloyd,
164, St. John Street Road, is a " Dealer in Living
Marine Animals, Sea-weeds, Artificial Sea-water,
and Marine and Fresh-water Aquaria." The last-
named gentleman will imdertake the whole labour

22 TKANSMISSION

of supplying and stocking these interesting reposi-
tories of ocean life.

Transmission of Specimens. — Both plants and
animals should be forwarded to their destination
as soon after they are collected as possible ; but, if
they are detained, they may be kept in pans of
sea-water, exposed to the light. The vessels, how-
ever, must be protected from heavy rains, as the
admixture of a large quantity of fresh water would
be fatal to both plants and animals. Should much
rain have fallen on a vessel containing specimens,
it should be carefully tilted, so as to allow the
fresh water, which, from its less specific gravity,
will be lying on the surface, to run off without
mingling with the other. If this be well done,
most of the collection, at least that portion of
it which was nearest the bottom, may be pre-
served.

Living sea-weeds may be transmitted to long
distances without water. I used to employ a tin
box, enclosed by a basket. At the bottom I placed
a layer of refuse weed, the common Fucus serrattis,
freshly gathered, and quite wet. On this bed
I laid the growing specimens, arranging the pieces
of rock so as not to shake about and injure the
plants, until the box was nearly fall; over all,
refuse weed was again laid, filling up all hollows,
and so pressing the whole when the box was shut,
as to prevent any motion of the stones. The
specimens arrived in the best condition, even the
delicate Delesserice being uninjured.

Many animals may be forwarded in the same
way. The MoUusca, many of the Echinodermata,
several of the Crustacea, and all the Actiniae
are transmitted with more ease and less danger

OP SPECIMENS. 23

thus than in water. A handful of loose weed, wet
with sea-water, to keep a moist atmosphere around
them, may be thrown into a canister or jar, and
the animals placed in among it. The vessel should
not be filledy nor should any pressure be allowed
on the animals ; the weed too, though fresh, must
be plucked, as pieces of rock would be injurious to
the more tender animals.

Fishes, however, many Crustacea, most of the
Annelida, all Medusae, and the more delicate Zoo-
phytes, require to be sent in sea-water. I some-
times use wide-mouthed jars of stone-ware, with
water-tight screwed tops, several of which may be
packed m a hamper; at other times a large 12-
gaUon zinc pail, protected by a wicker case, with
a screw lid, of which the central part is perforated
with minute holes ; at others, four small zinc cans,
of square form, with perforate tops, fitted into an
open box, like case-bottles in a wine-hamper. All
of these modes answer well ; I know not to which
I should give the preference ; except that for Fishes
the large pail is decidedly the best. If heavy
stones or oyster-shells, very rich in Zoophytes and
Annelides, be required, a common cabbage-net may
be suspended from the lid of the pail in mid- water ;
the stones or shells, being put into this net, will
be kept from injuring themselves or their neigh-
bours by banging about upon the bottom.

The more brief the period during which the
specimens are in transitu the better. Hence they
should be always forwarded ^er Tnail train,, and
either be received at the termmus by the owner, or
else be directed " To be forwarded immediately by
special messenger." The additional expense of
this precaution is very small, and it may preserve

24 TRANSMISSION OP SPECIMENS.

half the collection jfrom death through long confine-
ment.

The packages should he opened immediately on
arrival ; several bowls, pans, &c. should be ready,
each half-filled with sea-water. The water in tne
vessels just received should be carefully dipped or
poured ofi*, and the specimens placed one by one
m the bowls. Thus you will not only see which
are alive and healthy, and which are sickly or
dead; but the weeds, shells, &c. will be rinsed
firom the sediment, which has been abraded during
the rattling of the specimens in travelling. The
specimens can afterwards be deposited in the
Aquarium, their permanent home.

iShould any of the more delicate animals appear
much exhausted, they may often be restored by a
prompt aeration of the water around them. This
IS most readily effected by means of the Syringe,
as I shall presently describe.

If you can so arrange matters, it will be a useful
caution to allow your plants exclusive possession of
the Tank for a week or two, not putting any
animals in, imtil you see bubbles begin to form
all over the sides, bottom, and rock-work, when
the sun-light shines on them. This appearance
will indicate a growth of incipient vegetation, which
will greatly lessen the chance of death when the
animals are introduced.

Finally, be moderate in your desire of dominion.
Do not overcrowd your Tank. It is far better to
have it but half occupied at first, and to add to its

Sopulation firom time to time, than, by a too eager
esire to see it filled, make it a Black Hole of
Calcutta, and mourn over a host of corpses, the
wreck, perhaps, of a single night. Half-a-dozen

GENERAL DIRECTIONS. 25

animals, averaging the bulk of a Periwinkle, or a
moderate-sized Sea-anemone, to every gallon of
water, are quite enough to begin with.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

The Aquarium is then established. The water,
which at first is somewhat turbid, becomes in the
course of a day or two clear and crystalline ; the
plants expand their feathery tufts in beauty, and
the animals begin to take possession of their holes
and comers, and to find themselves at home. But
you must lay your account with the loss of some
specimens ; some will certainly die in the course of
the first twenty-four hours, otners in the first week.
But those which survive the first ten days may be
considered as pretty well established.

It is during this period that the grand trial of
the experiment usually occurs. There is generally
a large amount of animal matter attached to the
sea-weeds, shells, and stones, which are received
from the sea, such as minute Annelida, MoUusca,
and Zoophytes : very many of these creatures are
already dead, or die immediately ; but being too
minute to be detected and removed in detail, they
decay, and presently contaminate the water. The
first symptom of this is a slight dimming of the
crystal translucency, which if unchecked soon in-
creases to a milky whiteness, accompanied by a
fetid odour, and terminates in the death of the
whole animal collection.

Purification. — As soon as this begins to be
perceived, the whole water should be drawn ofi* by

26 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

means of a siphon, without disturbing the sedi-
ment, into pans, into which, for the present, the
plants and animals may be put. The Tank should
be wiped out and rinsed, and then the water should
be filtered back into it. This is a very simple
process : a funnel (if of glass, earthenware, or
gutta-percha, the better) is placed over the tank,
with a bit of sponge pushed lightly into the top of
the tube, so as to allow the water to run through
in a narrow, thread-like stream. Replace the
plants and animals, reserving those pieces of rock,
or those shells, that look suspicious, which mAy be
kept in a bowl of water by themselves for a few
days, till their state appears more fully.

This process of bringing every drop of the water
into contact with the atmosphere, is an effectual
remedy for destroying the tendency to putrefaction ;
as the animal fluids and solids held in suspension
enter into combination with the oxvgen of the air,
and form the pure innocuous gas called ozone. The
result will be that the milkiness will rapidly dis-
appear ; the water will assume a transparent clear-
ness, which will in all probability be permanent ;
the plants will thrive, and the animals will be lively.
This result will be rendered still more secure by
filtering the water through pounded charcoal, and
by allowing some pieces of the same substance to
float in the tank.

Occasional Death. — It will still be needful
to exercise a watchful supervision of the collection.
It must be remembered that both the animals and
plants are not in their natural circumstances, and
that a certain amount of violence is done to their
habits. Death, which spares them not at the
bottom of the sea, mil visit them in the Aquarium;

INSTRUMENTS — AERATION. 27

and hence the vessel should be occasionally looked
over, searched, as it were, to see if there be any of
the specimens dead. If the plants show an orange
hue in patches, they must be taken up, and the
diseased parts cut clean away. Dead animals
must be at once removed, or contamination will
soon result. The eye will soon recognise the indi-
viduals, and will miss the familiar forms ; but you
must not too hastily conclude that an animal,
which you have been accustomed to see playing
about, IS dead, because you have not observed it
for some days, and cannot find it. Probably it
has secreted itself in some comer or crevice, whence
it will emerge in a day or two. Still such a cir-
cumstance should excite your vigilance.

Instruments. — For removing dead specimens
or the like, a pewter spoon bent up to a right
angle, with the shaft tied to a slender stick, is very
useful. You can, if you please, make a more
elegant affair of it. Two or three simple sticks or
rods, some of them widened, spade-like, at the end,
are also useful for pushing the specimens to any
required point. And one or two small nets made
by stretching a bit of lace or muslin over a, ring
01 wire, fastened to a rod, will serve to catch and
lift out such animals as you wish to transfer, for
examination, or any other purpose, to another vessel.
As a general rule, however, they should be disturbed
as little as possible, and never handled.

Artificial aeration. — Although living and
healthy plants mil educe and throw off, under the
influence of light, oxygen, in sufficient quantity to
maintain in health a given number of animals,
yet the artificial admixture of atmospheric air
with the water may be employed as a valuable

28 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

auxiliary. I have used it with marked benefit ; often
having revived animals thereby, which, from the
exhaustion of the water, were apparently in a
dying state. Its utility as a means of maintaining
the purity of the water is still more obvious ; since
it is by the frequent and successive presentation of
the particles of water to the air, that the animal
excretions, which they hold in suspension, become
chemically changed, and deprived of their putre-
scent qualities. This is what takes place in nature.
By the perpetual dashing of the waves against the
shore, and especially against the ragged rocks, an
immense quantity of air becomes entangled, in the
form of minute bubbles, which by the various cur-
rents are diffused through the sea, and even carried
to considerable depths, before they rise to the surface
and become dissipated. Thus the violent agitation
of the sea is a powerful agent in its purification.

One of the simplest modes by which this object
can be effected, is the drip-glass. I have been
accustomed to suspend over the Aquarium, a per-
forated bell-glass (I think it is called a bee-glass)
of suitable size, into the orifice of which a bit of
sponge may be pushed, or a cork drilled with
small holes. The cord which suspends the drip-
glass passes over a pulley at the top of the win-
dow, so as to be raised or lowered at pleasure.
Every morning sufficient water from the Tank
is drawn or dipped off, to fill the drip-glass, which
is then hoisted to its full height. The contents
run out in slender streams, or in a rapid succession
of drops, which, passing through some four or five
feet of air before they reach the Tank, become
effectually purified.

A convenient mode of aeration is that effected*

THE FOUNTAIN. 29

by strongly syringing the water. The instrument
should be at least 1| inch in diameter, and should
be raised above the surface at every down-stroke.
After a few moments' work, the whole Tank mil
be quite white with minute bubbles of air, resem-
bling the sea when the waves dash and boil dmong
the rocks.

The same purpose may be more efficiently ac-
complished at a slight expense, in a manner which
would greatly augment the elegance of the Aqua-
rium. In the engraving placed at the commence-
ment of this treatise, I have represented a Fountain-
Aquarium, a form of the invention particularly
suitable for a conservatory or hall. It needs but a
vessel fixed, as a reservoir, at some distance above
the level of the Tank, in a higher story for exam-
ple, whence a supplying tube may descend, and
passing beneath the floor, ascend through the foot
of the vase, to the surface of the water. All the
visible portion may be easily concealed among the
rock-work ; while firom the extremity a jet would
play, proportioned in force to the weight of the
supplymg column, or, in other words, to the height
of the reservoir above the surface. It would be
needful to make the apparatus of some incorrodible
material ; — gutta percha, for instance, for the tube,
with a nozzle of glass ; — as metals would be acted
on by the sea-water, and form noxious oxides. The
water might either be carried up to the reservoir,
or pumped up by an obvious extension of the
apparatus.

Such a modification would doubtless be as
efficient as it would be elegant. The constant, or
at least firequent, dissemination of the water through
the air would keep the whole volume in agreeable

30 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

coolness, as well as maintain its sparkling clearness
and purity.

In a well-regulated Tank, however, none of these
modes are necessary. My oldest reservoir, which has
been in constant occupation for nineteen months,
never has any artificial aeration, except an occa-
sional syringing, and that is often intermitted for
months together. The surface is now and then
agitated with a stick, and broken by the addition
of fresh water to supply the loss by evaporation,
and this is all the external aid it receives. Yet
the water always maintains the most crystalline
transfparency and purity.

Evaporation. — If the Tank remain habitually
imcovered, or protected only by a coverlid of muslin,
daily evaporation will soon reduce the volume
of the water, and increase its specific gravity. The

Eure water alone rises in vapour, the various salts
eld in solution remaining the same in quantity,
though the water should be reduced to half its
original bulk. It is therefore needful that additions
of pure fresh water (not sea-water) be made from
time to time, to replace the loss by evaporation.
Distilled water is of course the best, but, practically,
river-water will answer perfectly well. The time
and quantityof these additions ought to be regulated
by a hygrometer, the specific gravity of the sea-
water being maintained at about 1027, which is the
average density of the waters of the Atlantic. A
tolerable approximation to accuracy, however,
may be made, by marking on the vessel the surface-
level at first, and always maintaining the same
leveL A glass cover greatly prevents loss from
evaporation, as will be manifest by the condensed
moisture on it, especially after a cold night.

CLEANSING THE SIDES. 31

Cleansing the sides. — The sea-water con-
stantly holds in suspension millions of the spores (or
seeds) of Algae, ready to adhere and grow as soon
as they find a resting-place; and these are parti-
cularly abundant in the warm season. Whether
those of the green kinds, the Chhrosperms, such
as the UlvOi Mnteromorpha, and various kinds of
ConferviB, be more plentiful than others, or whether
they are more easily satisfied with a place congenial
to meir growth, I know not ; but these grow most
obviously, in the poportion of a thousand to one.
Before we have kept our tank stocked a fortnight,
its transparent sides begin to be sensibly dimmed,
and a green scurf is seen covering them from the
bottom to the water's surface, which constantly
accumulates, soon concealing the contents of the
vessel from distinct observation. On examining
this substance with a lens, we find it composed of
myriads of tiny plants, mostly consisting of a
single row of cells of a light green hue, forming
minute threads which increase in length at the ex-
tremity ; others display small irregularly puckered
leaves of deeper green, which develop themselves
into JUva, or Enteromorjpha.

If we design the Aquarium to be of any service
to us in the observation of its contents, this growth
must be got rid of, or we might as well have a
vessel with opaque sides. Here then we bring in
the aid of the JPeriwinkle, which may be bought
alive of any London fishmonger, hal:f a-pint for a
penny. Exclusively a vegetable-eater, he delights
m the green sea-weed, and nothing can be more
congenial to his palate than these tender succulent
growths. The little Yellow Winkle,^so, abundant
on weedy rocks, possesses a similar appetite ; but

32 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

he is less suitable for the service required, inasmuch
as his constitution appears unable to bear constant
submersion ; his habit is to live a good deal exposed
to the air, and even to the hot sun, and this seems
essential to his health. I have found that if this
little species be collected, pretty as the individuals
are, they crawl around the sides for a day or two,
as if seeking a more genial dwelling, and then
one by one fall to the bottom and die. There
is, however, another genus of Univalve Mollusca
which may be made equally available with the
Periwinkle, if indeed it be not superior for the
purpose. I allude to those evenly conical shells,
which belong to the genus Trochm, sometimes
called from their form. Tops. Two species, T,
cinerarius and T, umbiUcatus, are scarcely less
abundant on om' weedy shores than the Periwinkles ;
the former of a dull purplish-grey, marked with
close-set zigzag lines; the latter rather flatter,
usually worn at the summit, of a dull olive or
green, with narrow reddish bands radiating from
the centre. Both are pearly in the interior, but
the latter species is brilliantly iridescent.

These Tops and the common Periwinkle are very
useful inhabitants of a marine tank; they make
themselves at home, and feed readily. It is inte-
resting to watch the business-like way in which
they proceed. At very regular intervals, the pro-
boscis, a tube with thick fleshy walls, is rapidly
turned inside out to a certain extent, until a simace
is brought into contact with the glass, having
a silky lustre; this is the tongue; it is moved with
a short sweep, and then the tubular proboscis infolds
its walls again, the tongue disappearing, and every
filament of conferva being carried up into the inte-

CLEANSING THE SIDES. 33

nor from the Kttle axea which had been swept.
The next instant, the foot meanwhile having made
a small advance, the proboscis unfolds again, the
tongue makes another sweep, and again the whole
is withdrawn ; and this proceeds with great regu-
larity. I can compare the action to nothing so
well as to the manner in which the tongue of an
ox licks up the grass of the field, or to the action
of a mower cutting down swathe after swathe as
he marches along. The latter comparison is more
striking for the marks of progress which each ope-
rator leaves behind him. Though the confervoid
plants are swept off by the tongue of -the Mollusk,
it is not done so cleanly but that a mark is left
where they grew ; and from its peculiar form and
structure, the tongue leaves a series of successive
curves all along tne course which the Mollusk has
followed, very closely like those which mark the
individual swathes cut by the mower in his course
through the field.

The unsightly appearance thus left must be got
rid of by mechanical means. A stick with a bit
of rag tied around its end, or, what is better still,
a brush made on purpose, like a nail-brush with a
very long handle proceeding from the side — a sort
of hearth-brush in miniature, fitted vrith very close
and stiff bristles — mil rub off the greenness. It
may be used about once in a month, or oftener in
summer. On the stones of the bottom, the cement
and rock-work, and even on that side of the tank
which, being next to the window, is not used for
observation, I would recommend that the green
growth be not interfered with, but that the marine
plants be allowed to grow undisturbed. A crop of
self-sown weeds in the tank is far more valuable

34 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

than such as have been introduced on loose stones.
And even from very early age the green growth is
found to throw oflF a copious supply of oxygen
bubbles. Care, too, must be taken not to molest
or annoy the animals needlessly, as also to leave
undisturbed any masses of spawn that may have
been deposited on the glass.

Turbidity. — Occasionally the water in a tank,
which has hitherto been quite translucent, becomes
all on a sudden so turbid as completely to hide the
contents from view, except such as are close to the
glass. This turbidity may arise from either of two
causes. If it is of a grey or whitish hue, forming
clouds here and there, which disperse and form
again elsewhere, the microscope will show that it is
composed of an innumerable multitude of animal-
cules belonging to the Class Infusoria. Their
presence is not an evil, but rather a means whereby
an already existing evil may be remedied. Their
sudden increase to such an extent as to be thus
appreciable to the senses, is symptomatic of organic
matters in the tank in a state of decomposition. If
we allow a minute worm that has died to lie at the
bottom of the tank, we shall see in a day or two,
if we watch it with a powerful lens, that it is en-
compassed by a little cloud of moving atoms, which
are the animalcules in question, and which are
busily engaged in devouring not only the solid
parts, but also the juices and invisibly minute par-
ticles that float ofi"; and thus in a very short time
they efiectually dispose of the ofiensive substance.
So, in the case of tneir increase to the extent just
supposed, of producing a general turbidity, they
will, if left to themselves, soon clear away the de-
composing matter if it be not too great, and then

TURBIDITY. 35

themselves gradually disappear, allowing the water
to resume its original clearness. As soon, however,
as we perceive such an appearance, we should
carefully transfer the principal animals to another
vessel, and search for the decomposing bodies, on
the removal of which the water will presently be
transparent and sweet as before.

But the opacity of the water may be dependent
on a totally different cause. If it is of a green
colour, rapidly deepening in intensity, it is vege-
table in its origin, and arises from an infinite
number of the spores (or seeds) of green Algoe dis-
persed through the fluid, and held in suspension
there. Now, this appears to have no deleterious
influence either on the plants or animals, which
live and thrive as well as when the water is clear ;
but it is annoying because of its unsightliness, and
because it effectually interferes with our observation
of our cherished jfavourites. It is, too, a most
inveterate evil ; unlike the former, it is not self-
curative, at least not certainly so, and it cannot be
foreseen. I have had a large vessel that ha^ been
in full occupation for a year and a half, — during the
whole of which time it had remained brilliantly
colourless, — suddenly, without any imaginable cause,
become green; and in the course of two days be so
opaque that objects could not be discerned an inch
from the sides.

The lens will not detect anything in the fluid in
this case; it requires a very high power of the
compound microscope to resolve the cause. With
a magnifying power of 660 diameters, we see an
immense number of oval atoms, apparently colour-
less (but, doubtless, having a very slight tinge of
green visible only in the aggregate), and not more

d2

36 GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

than 3Tj^Tyth of an inch in diameter. These I con-
ceive to be the spores of a green Oscillatoria,
or some kindred plant ; for there is a tendency to
the accumulation of the films of such plants in
the vessels in which the phenomenon exists.

I know of no cure for this. Sometimes it will
continue unchanged for many months, and then
clear away as suddenly as it came. At others, it
will diminish and promise a return of transparency,
then suddenly return, and set in as dark as before.
Future observation may throw light on the matter,
but at present, so far as I know, it remains a
difficulty.

Since the preceding paragraph was in type,
however, Mr. W. A. Lloyd informs me that he has
succeeded in overcoming this difficulty. By drawing
off the green water, and putting it into a dark closet,
he finds that in two or three weeks the turbidity
quite disappears, the water resuming its pristine
transparency. The explanation is doubtless as
follows : light is necessary to the life of plants, or at
least, the green colouring principle in them cannot
be developed without light ; if, then, this be denied,
the plants must wane and die. Now the opacity,
as I have intimated, consists of the living germs
of green plants ; and these on being deprived of
light gradually die away ; after which the water is
quite fit for use again. I am myself instituting
experiments on the subject ; and so far as I have
proceeded, my results agree with those of Mr.
Llovd ; so that I hope this problem is at length
fairly solved.

Food. — I am continually asked, how, with what,
and how ojien I feed my animals. My invariable
reply is, — " Not at all." I do not find that they

TIME. 37

need any supply but what they procure for them-
selves. In a well-stocked and established tank,
the vegetable-feeders find a sufficient pabulum in
the ever-growing weed; and all the carnivorous
species are maintained in condition by the hosts of
Infusoria and Entomostraca that are always
swarming. The lens shows these tiny creatures to
be abundant in every collection of water that has
been kept for a short time ; and as they breed very
fast, their increase is sufficient to meet the demands
of their superiors in organization. At least, I find
that my well-filled tanks need no other supply
than this, and what the more predatory kinds occa-
sionally obtain by the death of their fellows. For
amusement, indeed, the Actiniae, the Madrepores,
the Prawns, and the Crabs, may be fed ; and then
the best diet is the lean of raw meat, cut into
minute fragments ; but it should be very sparingly
done, and the rejected atoms carefully removed,
lest putrefaction set in and spoil the whole.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING.

Time. — ^What is commonly called low-water —
that is, the time when the ebbing-tide recedes to
the utmost point — is the period to be chosen for
shore-collecting, as comparatively few marine ani-
mals or plants habitually live in situations where
they are long exposed to the air and sun. But the
lower the level, tne more rich becomes the harvest;
and hence the time of spring-tide is the most pro-

38 COLLECTING

ductive, when the recess of the tide is the greatest.
Spring-tides occur twice every month, viz. about
the time of new and full moon ; the very best tides
of all are those of the second day after the change
of the moon ; but for two days before and two days
after that, they recede very far ; so that we may
consider those weeks which commence two days
before the change of moon and end five days after
it, as good collecting periods, while the alternate
weeks are nearly useless. The full-moon tides are
generally greater than those of the new-moon; and
those about the time of the equinoxes, or the spring-
tides of March and April, and of September and
October, are the best of the whole year. Prevailing
T^dnds, however, exercise some influence on the
amount of recess of the tide.

The time of lowest water on any particular day
can be readily ^ascertained from local tide-tables ;
and the yoimg collector, in choosing the locality of
his operations, will pay attention to this point
beforehand, that he may select a place where the
time of low-water on the days of spring-tides is the
most convenient for his occupation. For instance,
the time of low-tide on the day of full-moon is
about noon on our western shores, but about six
o'clock on the Sussex coast.

Implements. — I use a wicker-basket with a flat
bottom and straight sides, divided into compart-
ments. In two of these fit wide-mouthed jars, such,
for example, as are used for preserves : if made
of glass they are the better, as admitting a more
ready exammation of their contents ; but jars of
white-ware or stone-ware will do. The larger
objects procured are put into these; and I commonly
carry also a wide-mouthed phial, such as the

' SEA-WEEDS. 39

chemists keep quinine in, fitted into a third com-
partment, to receive the minuter and more delicate
things. Then there is a fourth division running
the whole length of the basket, in which lie a ham-
mer and chisel, and which may receive large shells,
crabs, &c. that do not require constant immersion.
A geologist's hammer with a cutting edge, as well
as a striking face, is the most useful ; and the chisel
must not be such as carpenters use, but one made
wholly of iron, tipped with steel, such as is used
by smiths, and technically called a cold chisel.

Sometimes, especially if the shore we are about
to search be strewn with large stones or boulders,
it will be well to secure the attendance of a man
with a crowbar, to turn over the stones ; as on their
under surface, and beneath their shadow, valuable
specimens are often found. With the same instru-
ment, inserted into the fissures, great pieces of loose
slaty rock may be wrenched ofi", which are very
proauctive.

Collecting Sea- weeds. — Thus armed, we sally
forth, choosing for our explorations a spot where
low dark ledges of shelving rock run out into the
sea, ftdl of clefts and fissures half concealed by
Bladder-weed and Tangle ; or where the solid rocK
shoots up in irregular angular masses, scooped and
hollowed into numberless little pools and basins,
with dark, slimy caverns here and there, and
rifts of shingly sand between. An unpractised
foot would find the walking precarious and dan-
gerous, for the rocks are rough and sharp, and the
dense matting of black Bladder-weed with which
they are covered, conceals many abrupt and deep
clefts beneath its slimy drapery. These fissures,
however, are valuable to us. We lift up the hang-

40 COLLECTING

ing mass of olive-weed [Fucus) from the edge, and
find the sides of the clefts often fringed with the
most delicate and lovely forms of sea-weed ; such,
for example, as the winged Delesseria (J9. alata)
which grows in thin, much-cut leaves of the richest
crimson hue, and the feathery Ptilota (P. plunwaa)
of a duller red. Beneath the shadow of the coarser
weeds, as well as in open pools, delights also to
grow the Chondrus, in the form of little leafy
bushes, each leaf widening to a flattened tip. When
viewed growing in its native element, this plant is
particularly beautiful ; for its numerous leaves glow
with refulgent reflections of azure, resembling the
colour of tempered steel. This weed when dried
is useful for making jellies, and constitutes the
Carrageen Moss of the shops.

We may observe amongthe sea-weeds many tufts
of a small species, whose leaves are much and
deeply cut, with the divisions rounded, and the
general outline of the leaf pointed. Some specimens
are of a dull purple, others of a rich yellow hue ;
and I refer to tne species as an interesting example
of the influence of light on the colour of marine
plants. The yellow specimens are exposed to the
sun's rays ; the purple ones are such as have grown
in deep shadow. The species is the Laurenda
pinnatijida of botanists.

Turning from the hidden clefts, we explore the
deep pools that lie between the ledges. High
wading-boots are necessary for this purpose, as we
have to work in the water. The great Oar-weeds
and Tangles {Laminaria) are growing here, large
olive sea-weeds that wave to and fro with the
undulations of the sea ; the former a long narrow
puckered frond of brown colour ; the latter, a broad

SEA-WEEDS. 41

smooth leathery expanse of deeper colour on a
slender stalk, splitting with age into a number of
lengthened fingers or ribbons, and hence called the
Fingered Tangle {Laminaria digitata). Among
these grow clusters of an elegantly frilled species,
of delicate thin texture, and yellow-brown hue,
bearing no slight resemblance to the tresses of some
fair lady : this also is a Laminaria^ but I am not
quite sure whether it is the young state of the
former species, or entitled to a name of its own.
In the latter case, it is the L. phylUtis of botanists.

In these deep pools grow also many bunches of
broad dark-red leaves, generally about as large as
one's hand, smooth and glossy, of a dark crimson
hue, but apt to run ofi" into a pale greenish tint
towards the tips; their edges have often little
leaves growing on them. It is the Dulse or Dillis
{Rhodymenia palmata), which is eaten by the poor
of our northern shores as a luxury.

This is a showy plant, very beautiful when its
tufts of large deep-red fronds are seen in the sea,
where the perpetual wash of the waves keeps their
surface clean and glossy, but not very suitable for
an Aquarium. Its leaves soon decay; spots of
orange-colour begin speedily to appear, which in-
crease fast, and, uniting into large patches, slough
off in slimy shreds. The appearance of an orange-
colour, on crimson or purple weeds, is always a
sign of the death of that part, and is the infallible

f)recursor of decay. As soon as it appears, or at
east if it begins to increase, the specimen should
be ejected without mercy ; as the diffusion of the
gases from decaying vegetable matter is speedily
fatal to most animals.

In deep pools, and narrow clefts near the verge

42 COLLECTING

of lowest water, where the overshadowing rock ex-
cludes the sWs rays and imparts a genial obscu-
rity, grow several oi our most delicate and beautiful
Alg(B. Foremost among them is the Oak-leaved
Delesseria [D. sanguined) ^ with tufts of crimson
leaves, exquisitely thin, much puckered at the edge,
and strongly nerved. The Irid(Ba, whose leaves are
smooth and leathery, and of a dark brownish scarlet,
is often the companion of the former. Here, too,
we find the Phyllophora^ another weed of brilliant
red hue, with unnerved leaves much divided, giving
origin to other leaves, and these again to others.
It is usually much covered with the cells and
shrubs of various species of Polyzoa, exquisitely
beautiful objects for the microscope. The Gelidium
corneum is another fine red weed, commonly of
small size and slender, but prettily fringed with
processes all roimd the edges of the leaves. This
and the preceding are very hardy in confinement,
and form very suitable plants for an Aquarium.

When we can no longer work at so low a level,
we recede to the slopes of the ledges yet uncovered,
and find other species in the quiet sheltered pools.
A weed is found here, growing in dense mossy
patches on the perpendicular and overshadowed
edges of the rock, which, when examined, looks like
a multitude of tiny oval bladders of red-wine, set
end to end in chains. This pretty sea-weed is
called Chylocladia articulata.

Here also grows the stony Coralline, a plant
bearing some resemblance to that just named, in
the peculiar jointed form of its growth. Low-lying
pools are often incrusted with a coat of stony or
shelly substance of a dull purple hue, having an
appearance closely like that of some lichens; the

SEA-WEEDS. 43

crust investing the surface of the rock, and adhering
firmly to it, in irregular patches, which continually
increase from the circumference, in concentric zones.
This is the young state of the Corallina officinalis,
which by and by shoots up into little bushes of
many jointed twigs, diverging on every hand, or
hanging in tufts over the edges of the rock-pools.
Young collectors are eager, I perceive, to seize such
specimens as are purely white ; but this condition
is that of death ; m life and health, the shoots are
of the same pale purple hue as the lichenous crust.
This plant in both states (for plant it undoubtedly
is, though principally composed of lime, and of
stone -like hardness) is suitable for a tank, as it
survives and flourishes long; and your pieces of
rock-work you may select from such places as are
covered with the purple crust.

The most valuable plant of all for our purpose is
the Sea Lettuce [Ulva latissima). Every one is
familiar with its broad leaves of the most brilliant
green, as thin as silver-paper, all puckered and
folded at the edge, and generally torn and fretted
into holes. It is abundant in the hollows of the
rocks between tide-marks, extending and thriving
even almost to the level of high water, and bearing
with impunity the burning rays of the summer's
sun, provided it be actually covered with a stratum
of water, even though this be quite tepid. It there-
fore is more tolerant than usual of the limited
space and profuse light of an Aquarium, where it
will grow prosperously for years, giving out abun-
dantly its bubbles of oxygen gas all day long. It
is readily foimd ; but owing to the excessive slen-
demess of its attachment to the rock, and its great
fragility, it is not one of the easiest to be obtained

44 COLLECTING

in an available state. The grass-like EnteromorphiB
have the same qualities and habits, but their length
and narrowness make them less elegant. The
CladophortB^ however, are desirable ; they are plants
of very simple structure, consisting of jointed
threads, which grow in dense brushes or tufts of
various tints of green. Some of them are very
brilliant ; the commonest kind is C. rupestris^ which
is of a dark bluish-green ; it is abundant in most
localities.

These are a few of the sorts of sea-plants which
are met with in the situations I have described.
In order to transfer them to an Aquarium, a por-
tion of the rock on which they are growing must
be removed. These plants have no proper roots,
and therefore cannot be dug up and replanted like
an orchis or a violet, but adhere by a minute disk
to the surface of the rock, and, if forcibly detached,
die. I therefore bring the hammer and chisel into
requisition, and split off a considerable fragment of
the solid stone, which then, with the plant adhering
to it, is placed in the Aquarium. This is often a
difficult, always a delicate, operation ; the rock is
frequently so hard as to resist the action of the
chisel, or breaks at the wrong place ; sometimes,
on the other hand, it is so soft and friable as to
crumble away under the implement, leaving only
the isolated plant deprived of its attachment ; and
sometimes, at the first blow, the sea-weed flies off
with the vibration of the shock. Often we have to
work under water, where the force of the blows is
almost rendered powerless by the density of the
medium, and where it is next to impossible to see
with sufficient clearness to direct the assault.

As the plants are detached, they are placed one

ANIMALS. 45

by one in security. ^ The finer and more delicate
ones, as the Delesseria for instance, are immediately
dropped into a jar of water ; for only a few minutes'
exposure of their lovely crimson n-onds to the air
would turn them to that dull orange colour already
mentioned as the sign of incipient decay. The
hardier sorts are laid in the basket, — a, layer of
damp refuse-weed being first put in to receive
them, — and covered lightly with damp weed. The
degree of moisture thus secured is sufficient to pre-
serve many species from injury for hours.

Collecting Animals. — I have been speaking of
the haunts of the living Alga, and of the manner
of procuring them; because in sequence of idea
these come first into consideration. But in point
of fact, the search for animals goes on simulta-
neously with the process just described ; the same
haunts which are afiected by the marine plants
concealing various animals.

Close examination of the fissures of the pools, of
the rough and corroded stones that have been fished
up, and even of the sea-plants themselves, reveals
many curious creatures of various kinds and forms,
each of which, when found, is seized and consigned
to one or other of the jars. The plants often bear
the more delicate Zoophytes, as Coryne, Sertularia,
Gampanularia, &c. growing parasitically upon them ;
and some interesting Sponges, as Qrantia compressa
jnd G. dh'ata. But more generally the Sponges
are found incrusting the sm^mce of the rocks in the
darkest places, especially on the sides of caverns,
intermixed with many species of the Polyzoa.

The Sea-anemones {Actinia, &c.) adhere to
rocks ; the common Smooth species {J, mesemhry*
antkemvm) often high up, exposed to the air ; but

46 coLLEcrriKG animals.

the rarer kinds generally In the sheltered crannies
and basins, in gravelly fissures, or on the under
surface of stones. They must be carefully dis-
lodged by inserting the finger-nail beneath the
base, and gradually shoving them ofi^; but those
sorts that live in holes must be chiselled out.

Many of the Star-fishes, Sea-urchins, and Sea-
cucumbers are to be procured by turning over loose
stones at the lowest tide-level ; various species of
Annelides haunt the same places, and some of these
are of surpassing beauty. Many curious kinds of
Crabs and other Crustacea, too, and in spring the
elegant Nudibranch MoUusca, reward the labour
of stone-turning.

The Univalve Mollusca crawl freely over the
surface of the rocks, or roam amid the umbrageous
foliage of the weeds that fiinge the clear pools;
whither also many of the lithe and slender worms,
and the swimming Crustacea, as the Prawns and
their allies, resort. Some of the Bivalve Mollusca
burrow into the solid rock itself, and the Acorn
Barnacles are seated by thousands on its surface.
Many of the Bivalves, however, are to be dug out
of the sand or mud of the flat shore, and many
interesting animals are found on the beds of sea-
grass [Zostera) that grow on such a coast. These
are collected by means of a keer-drag, a form of
net which the reader may find described, with its
use, in my " Aquarium," p. 66. ^

Dredging.— -To the same work I must refer for
a description of dredging and its prolific results,
wherebv the bottom oi the deep sea is scraped and
the varied contents brought to light. Multitudes
of animals of the highest interest are procured by
dredging, that the shores-collector would never find ;

DREDGING! — TOWING. 47

and yet shore-collecting must always be the main
resource, at least of the majority.

Towing. — One more means of obtaining animals
remains to be mentioned, — the surface-net. This
may be made of stout muslin, in the form of a
bag, two feet deep, sewed on a thick brass ring
a foot in diameter, which is screwed at the end of
a staff six feet long. The staff should be of tough
wood, such as hickory or lance-wood. The net is
held at the surface of the sea, the collector sitting
in a boat rowed gently along. The afternoon and
evening of a calm sunny day are most productive,
especially in the latter part of summer and autumn,
when the \oy^j Medrisce^ the little ^eroe, and many
forms of freely swimming Annelida and Crus-
tacea occur in abundance. At frequent intervals,
the bag of the net must be reversea and plunged
into a glass jar of clear water, when the captives
will float off into the vessel.

For many details of this and other modes of
collecting, and of the history of the curious
creatures obtained thereby, I beg once more to refer
to my " Devonshire Coast," and " Aquarium,"
which are expressly devoted to these subjects.

THE END.

R. CLAf, PRTNTKR, BABAD »TRBk.T HILX..

^( % samt %vi\ax.

THE AQUAEIUM;

AN UNVEILIKG OF

THE WONDERS OF THE DEEP SEA.

Post Svo. with Illustrations in Chromolithography and Wood, 17 s,

" Those who have had the gratification of spirit-companionship with
Mr. G osse in his former rambles, will rejoice to find themselves again by his
side on the shores of Dorset. He has the art of throwing the ' purple light '
of life over the marble form of Science; and while satisfying the learned by
Ulustrations and confirmations of what they knew before, he delights the
seekers of knowledge, and even of amusement, by leading them into pro-
fitable and pleasant paths ' which they have not known ' The

voliune ought to be upon the table of every intelligent sea side visitor.
It would be injustice to close these remarks without paying a tribute to the
singular beauty, both of design and execution, of the plates which accom-
pany the work."— (r/ofte, June 22, 1854.

" Among Mr. Van Voorst's many beautiful books, none exceeds, we know
not if any equals, the delicate beauty of Mr. Gosse's ' The Aquarium.' . . .

This charming volume The illustrations are of ravishing beauty,

quite miracles of tinted lithography." — ChrUtian Remembrancer, July 1854.

" The object of Mr. Gosse's book is to give information on [the keeping of
marine animals, &c.] ; and that he does this in an agreeable and intOKsting
manner, is only to say that Mr. Gosse has done in this book what^ has
done in all his other books." — Athenaum, Aug. 19, 1854.

"To all who have looked with interest upon the collection of marine
aquatic animals in the Zoological Gardens, and observed with attention their
wondrous development of form and function, this book, by an eminent lover
of Nature's marvels, will be a delightful and welcome companion. Mr.
Gosse has himself dived into the bejewelled palaces which old Neptune has
so long kept reluctantly under lock and key, and we find their treasures set
before us with a freshness and fidelity which afibrd welcome and instructive
lessons to naturalists of all ages. ... It is a charming little volume, and an
admirable pocket companion for visitors to the sea-side." — Literary Gazette,
July 15, 1854.

A NATURALIST'S
BAMBLES ON THE DEVONSHIRE COAST.

With 28 Plates, some coloiired. Post 8vo. 21s.

" This is a beautiful and acceptable book; as interesting to the scientific
naturalist as to the unscientific lover of nature in all her endless variety.

Those of our readers who know Ilfiracombe will ei^oy the vivid

descriptions of scenery interspersed throughout these pages. HiUsborough,
and Wildersmouth, the Torrs, Watermouth, terrible Morte, and shelly Bairi-
cane, are names which sound most sweetly to our ears ; and we follow our
author over well-known and much-loved ground, fit resting-places for his

philosophically poetic mind To seekers of pleasure at the sea-side

with cultivated minds, we heartily recommend this charming book, as a
most useful and delightful companion." — Atku, July 9, 1853.

VAN VOORST, 1, PATERNOSTER ROW.

^