Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-07-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLSE. TR4cE#ELL.

simply refuse 10 90 of according TO
Innes William r Innes OF Phila-
delphia. by the way. is the Hoyle Of
fishes.D
No, 1t is precisely because home
tanks do require something more than
q pinch OF food that they are in
teFeSting and keep being interesting
Something Is always turning up to
confound the earnest Aquarist. no
matter how much he knows, OF thinks
ne knows.
We have two tanks. side by side
under ike light conditions. fishes
and feeding. one collects green algae
readily on the front glass. necesSitat-
ing u wiping with absorbent cotton
about once q week The other tank
never has any algae at all. In the
first tank the plants grow Justify. as
they must do TO be OF any service
10 the fishes and SO present q problem
every two weeks, for they happen to
be a type which requires replanting
each time, rather than mere cut
ting of. In the second tank these
same plants do not grow as strongly.
yet the water is crystal clear and the
fishes in fine fettle This tank truly
requires nothing but pinch of food
but the other one demands a great
deal more. A casual visitor could
not see the slightest difference be-
tween them. but one requires at least
100 times as much attention as the
other.
In speaking OF the Gambusia hol-
brook. a small. black-spotted fish
widely used in mosquitoe control, Mrs
Mann tells the following about their
use at the Zoo here.
In 1890 a committee studying mos
quitoe control in the District of Co.
lumbia put 200 Gambusia in the
beaver pond In the National Geological
Park
The following year they took out
TOO and the next year IL 900.
In this protected locality they had
prospered SO nightly that fish from
the original stock could be distributed
to every pond in the vicinity"
In chapter on Aquarium Oddi-
ties" Mrs. Mann relates a personal
experience which she had on one OF
the geological expeditions with DIR.
Mann in seeing school Of Anableps
lying on the mud out of the water.
Il have seen whole schools, thou
sands of them basking in the sun,
stretched out in the mud OF the brack-
America.
1T always looked as though 1t
would be the simplest thing in the
world to steal up behind them and
grab them by the tail, but the mo-
ment We approached, nets in hand
the beach was deserted and a num-
Der OF Streaks across the surface of
the water showed where the Ana
bleps had sought safety"
Such personal touches as these give
this beginners book a touch which
many a larger treatise lacks. many
OF which cost between 8 and Is times
the price Of this book. The fact that
Dr. George S. Myers Of the National
Museum read the manuscript and
gave Mrs. Mann many valuable Sug-
gestions," as she states. also gives
this booklet an authoritative touch,
since Dr. Myers is leading theoreti-
cal, as well as practical, ichthyologist
and fish fancier.
A list of fishes at the end of the
book contains both the popular and
scientific names of common aquarium
denizens, as well as their habitat,
most useful feature.
1t is to be regretted that the draw
ing of the lovely Rasbora hetera-
morpha shows these little fellows with
their dorsals lying down. as no fish. in
health, holds its upper I'm more stiffly
upright. for all the world like a little
sail. The drawing of the male Guppy
is incomplete as regards the anal fin,
and surely these little creatures never
swan in such Indian file as the artist
shows them. The drawing of the
Scalare, or angel fish, is very good.
All in all, this book is a big quarters
worth and a worthy addition to the
growing library of popular aquarium
publications.