Evening star., 1934-01-06

The use Of small hand magnifying
glass, of ten power or better. is recon-
mended to the owners Of tropical
fishes, If they would discern the real
beauty of their pets.
No one has seen the male Guppy at
its best who has not gazed at 1t through
a good glass.
It is not an easy job, for this Is the
liveliest of creatures, forever swimming
curvetting its body, literally prancing
through the water.
During the few seconds 1t stays COM
paratively still, however, the enthralled
gazer through the lens will see one OF
Natures masterpieces of coloration.
Some wise silk manufacturer, some
day, is going to put a "guppy silk" on
the market. 1t will be something like
an old Paisley shawl, but vastly dif-
ferent.
1t will be, in fact, just Guppy, and
II you have seen one OF those creatures
in the way suggested you will know II
is beautiful beyond the imagination OF
those who have seen them only with
the so-called naked eye.
The male Guppy. as most persons
know, Is the colorful one.
About an inch or at most an inch
and a half long, this slender animal Is
rightly called the rainbow fish" by
some.
The exquisite blending of its colors
however, are undreamed Of except by
those who have used magnifying lens
The groundwork, as it were, is gor-
geous, with Just the right tone to take
the brilliant but soft reds, blues, green
yelloWs, oranges. all shades and COM
binations thereof, one blending into an
other.
This blending process is the real
beauty of the male Guppy. but you
cannot see it unaided, at least not well
enough to appreciate it.
X X \
Even the female Guppy, larger and
silyery olive fish, is beautiful under the
glass.
She has a background Of violet. OF
palest purple, as strange as this may
sound to those who regard her as
"drab." Under the small lens there is
nothing in the world drab or colorleSs
about her.
She, too, like her smaller, more col
orful spouse. is something well worth
looking at, then. She shares with him
and most fishes, indeed, the lure OF
true cleanliness of appearance.
4AlC BoLSA WCu may AACAC VA tAAS
wonderful handiwork Of the Creator
who gave to these millions of tiny and
unregarded creatures such splendid
Living tissues, so frail, and yet so bright
x Il
For the best results with the hand
lens strong electric light shining on
the front of the aquarium is best.
This light is reflected from the scales
of the fishes. For this work electric
light is to be preferred 10 sunshine
There is something about the electric
lighting which gives a pink cast, OF
tone, to the entire aquarium.
Many persons have been disap-
pointed. upon occasion, with the small
fishes they purchased, after they got
them home, forgetting that they were
displayed there under electric light
and that at home they may lack this
facility on the tanks.
A small electric lamp, placed at the
front Of the aquarium, or at one end
will give just the right light for OBJ
serving the inmates through the mag
nifying glass.
The more powerful, ordinarily, the
smaller the glass; the larger the field
the less magniflcation. To get the most
enjoyment from this sport. one prefer
ably should have glasses of several
magnifcations.
A very large one will do nicely fol
such large Cichlids as the so-called
Angelfish, or Scalare, in the jargon.