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Leader (1850-1860), 21st August 1858, Edition 2 of 2, Page 16, A PRIEND IN NEED. A Fritnd in Need. A Ro...

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      Teavels In Central At11ica. Travels And ...

      belief , in order to obtain from him some handsome presents for himself . ^ ^ i Further on we have a light sketch of native character : — Here , as in general , I allayed the suspicions of tie people and made them more familiar by showing them some pictures of men of -various tribes . Notwithstanding the great distance-which separated my tent from the encampment , none of the women remained behind , all being anxious to have a look at this curious and novel exhibition ; and having been sent about their business when they came in the daytime , they again returned towards night in such numbers that my people , being anxious for the safety of my small tent , 'which became endangered by these unwieldy creatures ,

      endeavoured to frighten them away with powder . But all was in vain ; they would not stir till they had seen the pictures , which , in accordance with the disposition of each , excited their great delight or amazement . My custom , which I have mentioned before , of honouring the handsomest women in every encampment with a looking-glass , created lere a great Btruggle for the honour ; but I was so unfortunate as to hurt the feelings of a mother by . giving the prize of beauty to her daughter , who was rather a handsome person . It will be long before we have news so copious and so authentic from the centre of Africa as that given , by Pr . Barth . His work is an invaluable addition to the collection of sound scientific narratives of travel which is rapidly forming-, and deserves a place in every library beside that of Dr . Livingstone .

      840 The Leader.' 1 Jjfe: _ 439 ^ Atj Ots...

      840 THE LEADER . ' Jjfe : _ 439 ^ Atj otst 21 , 1858 .

      The Aquabiatf Naturalist. The. Aquarian ...

      THE AQUABIAtf NATURALIST . The . Aquarian Naturalist * A Manual for the Sea-side . By T . Rymer Jones , F . R . S-j & c . With Eight Coloured Plates . VanVooiat . The weather wjas not 3 and in the accustomed place many a valued friend was missing . He and everylod y else , of course , who could get away from town , leaving its din and smoke behind , were off for a liolidav . " Follow mj leader" at this season of the year is a natural instinct , and so here . we are at KTrin ^ tairs sif . frrnw a . f . nnr flasfi VtpnpnfVi tlifi rnr » V

      upon , which stands the house which , if the sea spares it , may or may not go down to posterity as once the dwelling of Charles Dickens . It is just the spot we can imagine lie would have selected . The house stands on the extreme point of the cliffy overhanging the sea , and the view it takes in readies from the North to the South Foreland , from Dover to Margate , Bamsgate , Pegwell Bay and Broadstairs forming part of the line , and landwards , St . Peters , and Kingsgate , and the rich growing crops for which the Isle of Thanet is famed , spreaa out to

      ¦ new . But it is not of Charles Dickens that we are about to speak ; onl y seated , as we are , beneath his former residence , it is pleasant for us and for those who come after us , to know the haunts and " habitats" of his like , and so we have dotted it down ; but whether the sea and posterity will endorse it , is not a matter tliat concerns us , and so pass we on to that which docs , and this is the book we have chosen for our companion for the hour and the spot .

      Beneath us is the beach , and the masses of broken rock , crowned with sea-weeds in endless variety , break the gentle spray into feathery wreaths . To our left is a little rock-pool , with its translucent water . Let us accompany our author to a similar one , and if what we sec in ours does not equal all that he saw in his , we need not be jealous ; for whether there be many or few , all are lovely alike , and we , tod , may have better luck another time . It is a lovely morning ; let us atroll awhile upon the shingly beach , and -watch the ebbing tide . How stealthily the sea retires ! each gently curtseying wave , as its last rippllngs sink upon the sand , leaves a line of foam to show how far it had presumed to come . The rocks are now laid bare—we climb their slippery sides

      , and alt us down beside some rock-girt pool , 'whose tranquil surface , stirless as a glass , permits us to survey the depths below dear and translucent . Sea-weeds of roseate lines , and forms more delicate than those of earth , in rich profusion ; clothe the sides and bottom ; others of varied dyes , purple and green , hang loosely floating in the quiet depths ; pensile Confervoa wave from every Btone—a wilderness of vegetation . Interspersed -with these , the jointed Corallines spread forth their stony branches , and sea-flowers of every colour , opening to the sun , unfold their living petals to entrap their food . The glassy Bhrimps and prawns are faintly aeon , loet in their own transparency ; and little iishea , darting here and there , or poised with quivering fins , give life and animation to the scene .

      Tbe Bun becomes obscured , and the breeze freshens from the sea ; dark clouds are gathering on the horizon , and the tide begins to turn ; the heaving waves now tumble towards the shore , and as they break in

      angry foam portend a storm . The sky looks threatening , and the thunder growls far in the distance . The sea awakens as from slumber , and the blackening heavens lour over its dark bosom ; while the rising blast impelling all the waves , drives them upon the Tocks in sheets of feathery foam , lashing them on to madness , till at length ocean and sky seem mingled . Such are the changes of the sea , and such the efficient means whereby Nature ensures the renovation of that element , the mighty deep , the grand antagonist of all the earth—refreshing it throughout its broad domains , keeping its waters wholesome—filled with air , and thus adapted to the living things that flourish in its vast

      recesses . , It is the atmospheric air which it thus takes in that sustains the mass of " living' tilings that flourish in . its vast recesses . " Water itself , devoid of atmospheric air , cannot sustain respiration . Put a fish into a g iobe 3 and whilst the atmospheric air remains , it swims merrily about . As by its respiration that air becomes exhausted , and by its expiratiou of carbonic acid gas the water in the globe becomes foul , the fish would soon die if -we did not change the water , or supply the deficiency of oxygen by other means . It is evident , that only by imitating the conditions

      depth of at least three-quarters of an inch or mo ™ ~ stratum of fine sea sand- ( but * rith submission ™ *! * sist , from dear-bought experience , that fine granuWd sea shingle is both safer and better ) . The uses of tlupper stratum are many , but in its h ygienic characX it is most important to the health and well-doin ^ of / if little colony . s ot th e Whoever upon the sea-shore takes the trouble to « r to the depth of a few inches , more or less , will finf beneath the clean and wholesome sand a laver of bla fc

      Or bluish , rtflint . lik'O stinVinir ulltvo * i . ~ j * JnCK , or bluish , paint-like , stinking slime , the dregs and filth deposited as it were by nitration . This pestiferous deposit , were it not thus safely buried , would poison the entire coast , and render the shores uninhabitable The naturalist ought therefore to be very cautious Low he allows the bottom of an old-established tank to ba disturbed ; still more so in permitting the casual introduction of any shell or stone into his aquarium that is polluted with this noisome pestilence .

      And now is the time to introduce the plants , and of these only attached specimens of green and red sea-weeds are admissible . Then as to the water Shore water is full . of impurities , and , if . the natural water be preferred , it must be procured at least some miles away from the land , unless we patiently collect it out of the little rock-pools left by the receding tide , the water in which has undergone the natural process of filtration just described ; and deposited the sulphuretted hydrogen beneath its shingly bed . Artificial sea-water should be mixed afc least twelve hours before it is used . Of the different

      observable in Creation can we ever hope to succeed in our attempts at keeping ; alive and in health for any lengthened period animals that we desire to preserve in our Vivaria , and it is not difficult for the observant mind to perceive how these conditions are to be fulfilled . Water itself , while in a stagnant state , affords no air such as can be respired by any animal . To fill it tlien with atmospheric air , or oxygen * , the purer element , must be the first essential ; secondly , to keep it stored with food adapted to the nourishment of those creatures that we place in it , is as imperatively requisite . The storms (

      formulas for its preparation we strongly recommend Mr . Waringtons , which we gave in a recent number . Mr . Gosse produces a substitute , by using three and a half ounces of common table salt , a quarter of an ounce of Epsom salts , two hundred grains ( troy ) chloride of magnesium , and forty grains ( troy ) chloride of potassium ; This is snfcient for one gallon , and will cost about sixpence . Messrs . Brew and Schweitzer evaporate sea water in large quantities , and sell tlie resulting salt , fiftysix and a half ounces of which will produce ten gallons of sea water , less three-, pints . This done-, we have but to add the living animal-flowers themselves , and our marine-yivary is complete .

      that tempest ocean , making the sea to boil like a pot , ' effect the former condition by commingling the air of the atmosphere with the waters of the sea . The -vegetation which clothes the rocks and carpets tbe shallows , or floats through every region , when exposed to sunshine , as we all well know , pours forth oxygen gas in Abundance sufficient to replace that which is consumed by respiration , and moreover yields such ample stores of food as will supply all the vast hunger of the mighty deep . With these two grand facts before us ,, it is manifest upon what principles an Aquarium ought to be established .

      Mr . Kyiner Jones ' s book will be found to be the best practical manual yet published on this delightful study , and by aid of the accurately coloured plates , and a very full table of contents , the reader will readily find any information he may be in search of . The author tells us himself that He has endeavoured , as far as possible , to comply with the requisition of lady friends—to write as much as possible about what they do want to know , and as little as possible about what they do not want to know .

      Animal life requires oxygen for its support ; but by some mysterious power its nature is entirely changed between-. the act of inspiration and the act of expiration , and it is united with carbon ,. which is one of the elements of the animal body , and thus carbonic acid gas is given out by all animals . It is this carbonic acid which destroys animal life , hut vegetation takes up that poisonous gas , and casts out the pure oxygen , and in , the vivary the bright bubbles which cover the mimic rock work , or rise up to the surface are pure oxygen separated from the carbon , the plants having retained the latter for the formation of their own tissues . And it is this beautiful balance of animal and vegetable life that is rendered plain and simple by the contemplation of a water-vivary . Having determined upon the

      form of the vessel to be converted into ¦ our vivary , the next step is to form the interior as nearly as possible after the model of Nature . For a marine aquarium , which is the one under discussion , we cannot do better than imitate the rock-pool which we have just been contemplating . As we look down into it , we find how beautifully our common mother cares for all her offspring . Boulders , fragments of rock , gnarled roots of the larger sca-wceds form miniature caverns and recesses , and the little fish dart in and out of these , grateful for the shade and seclusion they afford . Here nnd there the coarser shingles are exposed to view , but the base generally consists of very fine granulated sli ingles or seasand .

      The best materials for the purpose of forming mimic ro « k-work will be found to be pieces of granite or of free-stone of various shapes and sizes ; but All of such weight and regularity of form , that when placed one upon the other , in accordance with the taste and intention of the designer , they may rest firmly nnd securely in their respective places . No cement should be employed in the construction of these mimic edifices ; their weight alone and steady supraposition upon each other should ensure the firmness and stability of the entire fabric .

      The next step , of coarse , is to lay down tho bottom of our miniature sea , so us to adapt it to the comfort and well-being of its intended inhabitants . Here ( and the arrangement is of considerable importance ) wo must study nature . The floor should be composed of smooth washed shingle , the stones resembling in sizo a pea , a bean , up to a hazel-nut , as substratum ; but with hero and there a larger piece , whoso bulk , like Skiddaw or Helvellyn , so to compare great things with small , may protrude through tho alluvial plain to be deposited above . Upon tuo top of this should be spread , to tlio

      A Priend In Need. A Fritnd In Need. A Ro...

      A PRIEND IN NEED . A Fritnd in Need . A Romance in Three Volumes . Richard Bentlcv , Miss Vandeleur , the heroine of this novel , appears in the opening chapter as a solitary young Mariana , looking out from her dismal grange fora sensation . She has not long to wait , for in the nick of time a lover pops over the garden wall and drops at her feet . Thrusting a mysterious packet into her hands , with an injunction to hold it in trust for him , lie vanishes . She exhibits no alarm , she does not shriek : oh . no ! but follows him mechanically , and

      when he disappears , instead of giving the alarm , secretes the packet and baflles his pursuers , wlio arrive a minute too late . The rapidity with which this lady adapts herself to tlie situation , is a fair specimen of tlie inartistic treatment of the rest of the elaborately invented plot of a A Friend in Need Tho hero , called George Hartigan from his infancy , but in reality the child of Count Julea dc PeVignon and of Lucille , his wife , was born when tho premonitory rumblings of tho Prench Revolution lifw begun to be heard . He was the offspring of a mest / i / iance , which had so disgusted tho Grandpe & c Pe * rifmoii , Marquis de Harlevillc , that Count Jules in

      liad been imprisoned in the Jbastille under that - valuable piece of novel-writers mechanism , a lettirde cachet ; His bride , destitute and persecuted , was thrown upon the world ; and every conceivahlo attempt was made to procure the consents of tho illfated pair to a divorce . When Lucille was about to become a mother , a friend represented to old Harlevillo that , if he relented not , an heir must be born to his house in a peasant ' s hut . He stooped , after a struggle , to a compromise , on condition that the child , if a son , should ho at once resigned to his tutelago ; he consented to the release of his son , and next mornuvg Count Jules breathed the outer air once more ; kissed his mother , who had still preserved an aflcc-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081858/page/16/