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840 THE LEADER.' 1 Jjfe: _ 439 ^ Atj ots...
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THE AQUABIAtf NATURALIST. The. Aquarian ...
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A PRIEND IN NEED. A Fritnd in Need. A Ro...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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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-
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Citation
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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/
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