Year: 1861

] should like TO picture before your read
crs, my aquarium as il now appears. The
water is as transparent as light. The brown
rocks, and bright green sea lettuce finely
contrast with each other. The actniae--
white, red and brown--are in full bloom,
the delicate lace work Of their fiorescence
expanded. Shrimps, with their beautifully
transparent forms, are carelessly travelling
across the area of the tank, and Mr.. Stick
leback, from rosy morn to dewy eve,' is
necessarily darting into the miniature caves,
searching for animalculae, or small crusta-
cea, radient with vermilion and blue and
emerald, his eyes glowing like carbuncles,
and ever and anon lowering over his nest,
as a humming bird flutters around flower,
and woe TO the stray shrimp that approach
es that sacred and well guarded spot. In
fifteen days, expect to see shoal of young
Sticklebacks in his company"


In subsequent communication, the writ
er continued his interesting description as
follows:


SIN the account Of my salt water aqua
rum, which you deemed of sufficient inter-
est to publish, mentioned that in about
fifteen days expected to have shoal Of
sticklebacks. They came sooner than /
expected. The nest was disturbed accident
ally on the fourteenth day after the female
spawned, and your correspondent anticipa-
red that his experiment had resulted in
failure. Better luck awaited me, however.
perceived on the morning following the
accident, that the male stickleback still how
cred around the spot, that his gorgeous
colors were increased in brillancy, and that
he was extraordinarily excited and vigilant.
If even a stray snail came near his shat
tered nest, he would seize it by the fieshy
part, carry it across the tank, and angrily
throw it into the most distant corner, and
woe to the luckless shrimp that dared to
| come within six inches of his demolished
| domicile; while to touch the outside of the
glass wall with the finger, was TO throw
him into frenzy of pugnaciousness.


/ therefore took magnifying glass, and
began a careful examination of the broken
nest, and / confess TO sharing somewhat in
the excitement of my little friend Of the
crimson and emerald vesture, when / dis
covered school of young siicklebacks,
which, on dispensing with the glass, could
barely distinguish with the naked eye
They were congregated in a cave or basin,
close TO the damaged nest, and for the first
| day, were not permitted TO stray the eighth
of an inch from that locality. On the Sec
ond day they were permitted, now clearly
visible to the naked eye, but ininitesima
in their proportions, TO spread into shoaI
of about an inch and half in diamater.-
If one struggled away from the rest, Mr.
Stickleback very promptly took him in hi:
mouth, as a cat would her kitten, and de-
posted it close by the nest. in such sum
mary manner as plainly 10 say, Stop there
for punishment, until you learn obedience
and good behavior.


What most interested and surprised me
however, was, that near sundown their Wig
liant gurdian gently drove them all into the
remains of the nest, and carefully covered
them over with sea weed, literally put then
to bed and tucked in the clothes, as carefully
and tenderly as ever fond mother performed
the same offices for her darling child, which
considering the sex Of the guardian, strncl
me as highly honorable 10 his palerna
character. On the third day write whel
they are only four days old-ihey were
permitted wider range, liable always Il
be brought back as before, when they stray
ed too far, and were put TO bed little later
They were stirring, too, this morning it'll
earlier than they were yesterday morning
Thus have been enabled, and thus ma,
any of your readers be enabled, to increas,
the knowledge of natural history, in those
of its most interesting phases which hav'
heretofore been secluded from human OBJ
servation. Permit me once more TO say
that there cannot be a purer and more in
structive home pleasure, than an aquarium