The Nome daily nugget., 1935-01-26

Prepared by National Geographic Society. Washington. D. C;-WNU Service. ,NISH aquariums in American homes, once inhabited only by
 goldfish, now are stocked with finny creatures of strange colors and shapes from many parts of the world The toy fish merchant has enlarged his stock to include fish from far distant waters, and aquari- ums are about as common in Amer lean living rooms today as potted plants
 Who started the fad of aquarium fish is bit of mystery. Rumor names Egypt; but although the fresh waters of Egypt are replete with curious and beautiful dwarf fishes and the Egyptians developed the art of ss-blowing during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, about 300 B. C., there is no evidence that vessels of glass were used for aquarla.
 It Is well known that the lure of breeding fishes in captivity took possession of the Chinese several | hundred years ago, spreading to Japan, and thence over the western world, with the goldfish as it's orig inal object of interest. During the past 75 years, experimentation with the balanced aquarium has passed l through various salt and fresh-wa- ter phases until, with tropical toy fishes, 1t has reached the peak of enthusiasm and success In Europe, and America.
 Not that the goldfish has suffered loss of popularity. Many millions still are reared annually in the United States, largely for martyr dom In the quart globe, and there Is little diminution in the demand for bizarre and costly varieties. Among the cold-water species 1t has no rivals.
 Nevertheless, tropical fishes have SupeTsSueu BolhlShCo III ihduy OL the smaller hatcheries, and some of the larger goldfish farms have built conservatories for rearing them.
 Many shops in the larger cities are devoted exclusively to their sale, and a pet show without dis play of the colorful mldgets would be noticeably incomplete. But it Is true, also, that while most Ameri- can and European homes have been ornamented at some time by the presence of few goldfishes, the ajorlty have not as yet succumbed to the allurements of the toy trop- ical, though fish "fans" spring up daily like mushrooms, enticed by the flash of color, the beauty of fin and form, the remarkable breeding habits undisturbed by captivity, and the use with which the aquaria are maintained.
 From All Over the World.
 Many kinds imported into the United States are sold and shipped almost the length and breadth of North America-from Florida to Canada and from Massachusetts to California-but hundreds as equally beautiful and interesting are as yet unknown to the fancier.
 The happy hunting grounds for toy fishes, explored and unexplored, range in the western hemisphere from the Carollnas south through Florida, and from Mexico through Central America, Panama and South America to the most south erly point of Argentina. Tn the eastern hemisphere, Egypt and other parts of Africa, Australia and Asia-including the island groups of the Malay Archipelago, India, China, Siam and other countries have been drawn upon for the sup ply of dwarf fishes appearing in the home aquaria of the Occident.
 Their habitat Is chiefly the swamp, the ditch, the rain pool. the rice field, clear mountain streams and stagnant lowland waters, ponds, brooks. lakes, rivers and estuaries; but some either make migrations to the coasts or live perennially in brackish or wholly salt water. Oceanic species thus far kept in American aquaria have been prin- cipally gobies.
 Tropical toy fishes are of many genera and species and even of many varieties-some natural, others cultivated. Their adult body length measures from l inch to 6 inches.
 The anatomy of the toy fish is