Evening star., 1933-03-20

Even the enthusiast VIII admit that &
Is dincult to work up many tears over
the time-tried and tr,lsy goldfish.
It Is only when one comes to the
"tropicals," with their. color, their varia-
ton Of structure, and interesting habits,
that sentiment enters the fish tank.
Then there may be an emotional re-
action which is, In its amall way, the
counterpart In little Of the same emo
tions on . larger scale.
Il =
No one, admittedly, undertakes any
sort Of hobby for the purpose of caus-
ing himself sorrow and other creatures
pain and extinction.
Our best hobbies are mostly collec-
tions, and the very gist Of . collection
Is life.
This Is, Of course. peculiarly true Of
the home collections Of small fishes.
One establishes an aquarium for the
purpose Of providing pleasure and in
terest to himself and other human be-
ings.
70 achieve this he must first estab-
lish quarters for his charges which re-
produce Nature well enough to take
care of them.
Their tank must 1--WE speak of tropi-
calS) keep them warm, providing them
with water at the correct temperature
(no guessing). must supply them with
plenty Of oxygen, must contain at times
sufficient food to keep them, not Just
alive, but In good health.
Fish, plants, water. food, oxygen
these and other factors must balance
themselves, 50 that nothing inimical to
one exists in the other.
There are laws here. as everywhere In
Nature, which must be obcyed, Or the
penalty b-death.
Excuses will not do.
Good intentions mean exactly moth
ing at all, unless they just happen to
be right procedure.
The laws are pitiless. II they are
obeyed, the fish are happy and their
owner pleased; II disobeyed, the fish
become ailing, and die, and the owner
froWns.
Ignorance Of the law cannot be plead
here any more than in a court Of law.
The main thing for the beginner Is to
assume at the very beginning that.
after all, he really does not know much
about what he Is undertaking, and
that q knowledge Of such matters as
are here involved Is not part Of every
human beings intuitive equipment.
He, himself, may not happen to be
blessed with "knack" He must be-
ware, above ALL the attitude which says
that those who have acquired q little
knowledge. no matter how they came
by it, really cannot know much, be-
cause really there Is not much to know.
after all.
There is a great deal to be learned
here as elsewhere, and one must be
humble. not proud. Indeed, this seems
to be the very beginning Of wisdom, this
realization Of the amount to be learned
in any branch OF knowledge. no matter
what 1t Is. A slight contempt for q
given branch-how common 1t Is.
among human beings! Every one has
heard the anecdote Of the man who
replied. when asked If he could play
the violin. that he did not know. as
he had never tried. Few persons how
ever. stop to realize that they ever
place themselves IN exactly the same
shoes. by minimizing the hard-won
knowledge Of other human beings The
refusal to acknowledge that another
person may know. after all, something
that one does not know, is very COM
mon: and whether 1t is met on the
street or in the drawing room. in the
arts. science. business. or literature. it
is essentially the same elf-sufnciency
which foredooms tiny creatures to
few weeks of misery and ultimate
death. We aim at the redemption Of
man. not fish. but we hope to save
fishes tn