Evening star., 1936-11-26
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL,

the better; therefore, a fisherman who
takes up the keeping Of aquarium pets,
too, is better of than just being fish,
erman; likewise, the aquarium enthusi-
asst who now and then goes fishin' is bet
ter of than he who merely keeps fishes
for recreation.
The balance is kept truer Half of
life's effort lies in keeping the balance
true. That is, for real satisfaction out
of life. Thousands of persons make no
attempt to keep life's balance true and
that is their business; but an unpreju-
diced spectator, taking 'em as they come,
can see easily how much better of they
would be-and also others-if their lives
were better balanced, had more pur-
suits, had more occasions for looking into
the joys and miseries of other types of
life, had the ability to check one type of
knoWlede off against another, had the
common sense to see the errors in non-
common sense, had the ability to see the
errors In "juSt common sense" some
times.
Keeping little fishes in glass bowls and
tanks may seem to some ardent fisher
men as not exactly a manly pursuit, but
the joke of the matter is that some of
the most rankly masculine of all male
creatures of the human kind find no
greater enjoyment in life than this.
Therefore, one and all, If you have any
doubts about the propriety of fish keep
ing as pursuit, revise them hastily and
as soon as you can, because you may be
missing something.
This indoor sport is much the same as
other pursuits-often there is no tell
ing whether one likes it or not, except
by trying it.
Many a person now exists who all the
time is missing one of the delights of
his life just because he thinks the word
"guppy" is comical.
There is, however, nothing at all
funny" in the ordinary sense, about the
little aquarium fiSh-or so it is mostly
known today-which goes by that COM
mon name.
The guppy both male and female, is
as sensible a small creature as it is
possible to find in all the living world.
Give it a quart of water, and it will
try to live its life, which is much more
than can be said for most human be-
ings under similar restriction.
Instead of lamenting its fate, the
guppy goes right ahead living as best it
can. with what surprising effects, one
must undertake their culture to find out.
There is a whole world OF wonder and
mystery, and fascination, and delight,
to the inquisitive mind when first TAX
ing up the watery world in the confines
of the glass-walled aquarium.
Not all who engage in this pursuit will
find it of surprising interest, of course.
That is reserved for the few. But every
one who honestly goes at it with deter
mination to do what he does as we'll as
he can do it-and that is of the utmost
importance in every pursuit-will find
himself in a new world, one which he
little suspected.
He will see new aspects of Nature, of
medicine-we get our cod and halibut
liver oil from fishes, of course-of chem
istry microscopy, conservation
These and other types of intellectual
pursuit open readily from the small fish
aquarium. whether it contains goldfishes,
guppies or more ambitious specimens.
A home pursuit, it f1ttingly involves
kindness, care and thought for others
even the poor fish. No man has ever
studied small fishes in the small aqua
rum without having become better
person for it.