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I 840 THE LEADER. [ffo . ^g9 , Atotjst 2...
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THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. The Aquarian Na...
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A FRIEND IN NEED. A Friend 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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Tka.Vels 1st Central Africa.. -Aveh And ...
belief , in order to obtain from him some handsome presents for himself . Further on -we have a light sketch of native character :- — Here , as in general , I allayed the suspicions of the 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 tie 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 here a great struggle 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 .
v will be long before we have news so copious and so authentic from the centre of Africa as that given by Dr . 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 tbat of Dr . livingstone .
I 840 The Leader. [Ffo . ^G9 , Atotjst 2...
I 840 THE LEADER . [ ffo . ^ g 9 , Atotjst 21 , 1858 .
The Aquarian Naturalist. The Aquarian Na...
THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST . The Aquarian Naturalist . A Manual for the Sea-side . By T . Rymer Jones , F . R . S ., & c . "With Eight Coloured Plates . "Van Voorst . The weather / was hot , and in . the accustomed place many a valued friend was bussing . He and everybod y else , of course , who could get away from town , leaving its din arid smoke behind , were off for & holiday . " Tollow my leader" at this season of the year is a natural instinct , and so here we are at Krnfl (? sf ^ iirs / sif . tincr p . f . anr / = » . isf » lipnpfiihf . li /? rnnh
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 tlie spot we can imagine he would have selected . The house stands on the extreme point of the cliff , overhanging the sea , and the view it takes in reaches from the North to the South Foreland , from Dover to Margate , Kamsgate , Pegwell Bay and Broadstairs forming part of the line , arid landwards , St . Peters and Kingsgate , and the rich growing crops for which the Isle of Thanet is famed , spread out to
. But it is not of Charles Dickens that we are about to speak ; only 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 that concerns us , and so pass we on to that which does , and tin ' s is the book we have chosen for our companion for the hour aud the spot .
Beneath us is the beacli , and the masses of broken Tock , 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 see 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 , aud we , too , may have better luck another time . It ia a lovely morning ; let us stroll awhile upon the shingly beach , and watch ; the ebbing tide . How stealthily th « sea retires I each gently curtseying wave , as its last ripplings sink upon the sand , leaves a line of foam to show how far it bad presumed to come . The rocks are now laid bare— -we climb their slippery aides
, and sit us down beside some rock-girt pool , whose tranquil surface , stirless as a glass , permits us to survey the depths below clear and translucent . Sea-weeds of roseate hues , and forms more delicate than those of earth , in rich profusion clothe the sides and bottom ; others of varied dyes , purple and green , hang loosel y floating in the quiet depths ; pensile Conferva ) wave from every stone— -a wilderness of -vegetation . Interspersed with these , ( he jointed Corallines spread forth their atony branches , and soa-flowers of every colour , opening to the sun , unfold th « ir living petals to entrap their food . The glassy shrimps and prawns nro faintly seen , lost in their own transparency ; and little fishes , darting hero and there , or poised with quivering fins , give life and animation to the scene .
The sua 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 fclast impelling all the waves , drives them upon the rocks 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 tbat flourish in its vast
recesses . It is the atmospheric air which it thus takes in that sustains the mass of " living things that flourish in its vast recesses . " Water itself , devoid of atmospheric air , cannot sustain respiration . Put a fish into a g lobe , and whilst the atmospheric air remains , it swims merrily about . As by its respiration that air becomes exhausted , and by its expiration of carbonic acid gas tlie water in the globe becomes foul , the fish would soon die if we did not change the vrater , or supply the deficiency of oxygen by other means .
It is evident , that only by imitating the conditions observable in Creation can -we ever hope to succeed in our attempts at keeping alive and in health for any lengthened period animals thai 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 then 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 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 Tocks and carpets the 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 whicli 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 .
Ammal life requires oxygen for its support ; but by some mysterious power its nature is entirely changed between the act of inspiration and tlie 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 , but vegetation takes tip that poisonous gas , and casts out the pure oxygen , and in the vivary the bright bubbles which cover the mimic arock work , or rise up to the surface are pure oxygen separated from the carbon , the plants having retained tlie latter for the formation of their own tissues . And it is tin ' s beautiful balance of animal and vegetable life that is rendered plain and simple by the contemplation
of a walcr-vivary . Having determined upoii 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 sea-weeds form miniuturc 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 arc exposed to view , but the base generally consists of very fine granulated shingles or seasaiui .
Flie best materials for the purpose of forming mimic rock-work will bo found to be pieces of granite or of free-stono 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 inten . tion of the designer , they may rest firmly and securely in their respective places . No cement should be employed in the construction of these mimic edifices ; their weight alone and steady supraponition upon each other should ensure tho firmness and stability of the entire fabric .
The next step , of course , is to lay down tho lottom of our miniature sea , so us to adapt it to tho comfort and well-being of its intended inhabitants . Here ( and the arrangement ia of considerable importance ) wo must study nature . Tho floor should be composed of smooth washed shingle , the stones resembling in size a pea , a bean , up to a hazel-nut , as substratum ; but with hero and there a larger piece , whose "bulk , like Skiddnw or Helvollyn , so to compare great things with small , may protrude through tho alluvial plain to bo deposited above . Upon the top of this Bhould bo spread , to tlie
depth of nt least three-quarters of an inch or m ™ . " stratum of fine sea 8 and- ( but with submission ™^* sist , from dear-bought experience , that fine crannli , ^ sea shingle is both safer and better ) . The u ? ea " fT * upper stratum are many , but in its hygienic chara ^ it is most- important to the health and well-doing of a little colony . s . «« me Whoever upon the sea-shore takes tlie trouble to < r to the- depth of a few inches , more or less , will finf beneath the clean and wholesome sand a laver of black or bluish , paint-like , stinking slime , the dregs and tilth deposited as it were by filtration . This » eslifer « , « deposit , were it not thus safely buried , would poison Z entire coast , and render the shores uninhabitable T naturalist ought therefore to he very cautious how hi allows the bottom of an old-established tank to he disturbed j still more so in permitting the casual intro duction 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 he procured at least some miles away from the land , unless we patientlv 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 sul phuretted hydrogen beneath its slungly bed . Artificial sea-water should be mixed at least twelve hours before it is used . Of the different 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 lialf ounces of common table salt , a quarter of an ounce of Epsom salts , two hundred grains < troy ) chloride of magnesium , and forty grains Ctrpy ) chloride of potassium . Tins is suident for one gallon , and will cost about sixpence . Messrs . Brew ^ and Schweitzer evaporate sea water in large quantities , and sell the resulting salt , fiftysix and a half ounces of which will produce tea gallons of sea water , less three pints . This done , we have but to add the living animal-flowers themselves , and oar mnrine-vivary is complete . ; Mr . llymer Jones ' s book will be found to be tlie best practical manual yet published on this delightful study , aud by aid of the accurately coloured plates , and a very full table of contents , the render 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 wibh the requisition of lady friends—to write as much as possible about what they do want to know , and as littk as possible about what they do not -want to know .
A Friend In Need. A Friend In Need; A Ro...
A FRIEND IN NEED . A Friend in Need ; A Romance in Three Volumes . Richard Bentley . Miss Van delet / ji , tlie heroine of this novel , appears ia the opening chapter as a solitary young Mariana , looking out from her dismal grange for a seiisatioa . She has not long to wait , for in the nick of time a lover pops over the garden wall and drops at her feet . Tn rusting a mysterious packet into her hands , with an injunction to hold it in trust for him , he 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 baffles his pursuers , who arrive , a minute too late . The rapidity with which this lady adapts herself to the situation , is a fair specimen of the inartistic treatment of the rest of the elaborately invented plot of a A Friend in Need The hero , called George Hartigan from his infancy , but in reality the child of Count Jules de PeYignon and of Lucille , his wife , was born when the premonitory rumblings of the French Revolution had begun to be heard . He was the offspring of a mesalliance , wliich had so disgusted the Grandpei'C Penfrnon , Marquis dc HarlcvilLe , that Count Jules
had been imprisoned in the Bastille under that in * valuable piece of novel-writers mechanism , a I elite de cachet , llis bride , destitute and persecuted , was thrown upon the world ; and every conceivable attempt was made to procure the consents of the illfated pair to a divorce . When Lucille was about to become a mother , a friend represented to old Ilarlevillc that , if lie relented not , au licir must be born to his house in a peasant ' s hut . 31 c stooped , after a struggle , to a compromise , on condition that the child , if a son , should be at once resigned to his tutelage ; lie consented to the release of his son , and nex . t morniug Count Jules breathed the outer air once more ; kissed his mother , who had still preserved an uflcc-
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 840, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_21081858/page/16/
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