Evening star., 1935-08-31
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z. TRACEWELL.
A modern miracle, yet as old as the

A modern miracle, yet as old as the
California salt pools.
sitting on business mans desk.
The glass Jar, filled three-quarters Of
the way to the top with salt water, ap-
parently held nothing at all.
It was very much alive, however; 1t
fairly teemed with living creatures.
They were the young Of Artemia sa-
Inns, the brine shrimp. Matched out from
dried eggs three years old.
All that time the eggs had remained
dry, destitute of life. to the eye nothing
more than a small quantity Of brown
dust.
Placed in salt water, however, they
Matched out into living creatures inside
Of 48 hours.
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, Of them
swan around in quart.
There was nothing for them to do but
swim, no place to go but around.
Such was to be their entire life. but
they didn't mind, apparently, because
they knew nothing else.
Like all Natures children, except man,
they accepted life as they found it
and however they found it.
In this they were fortunate, or un-
fortunate, Just as you want to look at 1t.
Their destiny was to be fed to small
fishes, because the form Of human prov
idence which placed them in salt water
of just the right strength was what is
known as a fish ian"
The latter Is q human who inclineS
to the keeping Of small tropical fishes
in an aquarium.
-
The search for live food for fishes SO
kept is an incessant one.
The use of the California brine shrimp
for this purpose began about four years
ago at the Steinhart Aquarium in San
Francisco. In common with other large
institutions Of the kind throughout
America, the aquarium keeps an exhibi-
ton of the small fresh water specimens
widely known as "tropicals" or "exotic
| fishes"
At times 1t became difficult, If not JIM
possible, to give them such good live
foods as Daphnia, or water fleas. So
called; mosquito larvae: Enchytrae. the
so-called white worm of the aquarist,
or chopped earth worms.
Hence the brine shrimp were secured
direct from the salt pools in the vicinity
Of Hollywood and other places.
It was then discovered that the eggs
Of these crustaceans, washed up on the
sides Of the pools by the millions, at q
certain season, could be dried and so kept
for a long time, without losing their
power of termination.
~ $50
A small portion of the dried eggs, per-
haps half teaSpoonful, or less, would
hatch out large number Of shrimp.
The hatch would not be 100 per cent,
by any means, but still enough of the
tiny, almost invisible shrimplets would
be swimming in the water within 36 to
48 hours to provide good meal for any
tropical specimens small enough to rec
ognize and grasp such provender.
There are graduations within gradua-
tionS in live foods for fishes as de-
veloped by the modern enthusiast.
While it is possible to keep many fishes
well on the good dried foods, there are
some specimens which demand live
foods. and all of them will do better for
a good feeding of some live, animated
smaller creatures once or twice a week
Live food Of some description helps
immensely in conditioning all fishes for
their breeding activities, which, under
right conditions, they display naturally
in any aquarium.
The use of brine shrimp in the home