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Entered according to Act of Congress, in June, 1867, by J. W. Burke & Cos., in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the So. District of Georgia. Vol. I. GEORGE’S AQUARIUM. IH story we are now about to tell is of an fn •#|uaquarium which Jane &e hWq made for George, her ' ' " brother. If you do not mS\ know what an aquarium is, read, JAy an fl you will know. One day George and his mother came to a gateway, under some trees, which opened from the main road to the private grounds of a coun try house. George’s mother entered this gateway, saying that she was go ing to make a call upon the lady that lived in. the house. While his mother was engaged with the lady of the house, in the parlor, a young lady named Maria took George out into a back hall, to show him her aquarium. This aquarium was a sort of box, which stood upon a little table; it had sides and ends of glass, so that George could look in and see what there was inside. The aquarium was nearly full of wa ter, and in the water there were a great many little fishes and various other “ live things,” as George called them, all swimming and erawlingabout. The bottom of it was covered with gravel and pebbles, and upon these were a number of plants that looked like sea-weed. In one corner there were tufts of beautiful green sprigs growing up half-way to the top of the water. — Some of the fishes were nibbling these sprigs, and others were swimming about among them; and on one side four or five little snails were crawling up on the glass. They had no legs, and George wondered how they could crawl. He watched one of them a long time, and saw plainly that he moved slowly along, but George could not possibly imagine how he did it. MACON - , G-A., SEPTEMBER 7, 1867. George remained looking at the move ments of the animals in the aquarium a long time, and at length, when his moth er sent for him to come to her, he left the place very unwillingly. On his way home he told his mother what he had seen, and begged her to get him an aqua rium. But all that he could get her to promise was, that she “would see about it.” When, however, ho came to tell the •m $~ ■ 'iM •?■ ■yfi/Xr <^7' , 'v story to his sister Jane, she said that she would get him what he desired. “Good!” cried George. “A real one?” “ Why, not exactly a real one,” said Jane ; “ that is not such a one as Maria’s. But I can make you one that will do very well to begin with, and if you like it, and don’t get tired of it, and don’t make any trouble with it, then perhaps your mother will get you a better one by-and-by.” So Jane went to the china closet, and there, from the top of a high shelf, she took down a large glass jar. It was a jar that preserved peaches had once been put up in. Jane carried the jar out to the garden, and set it upon a table that she placed there for it in a corner. The situation of it was convenient for George to see every thing in it, when it should be filled. “ This aquarium is round, and the one you saw was square,” said Jane, “but that will not make any great difference. How we must get something to put in it. We must have some pebble-stones for the bottom, and water-grass, and some water; and then as many little animals as we can find.” So Jane brought a small tin pail and a long-handled tin mug or dipper.— She also brought a small basket to bring homo the pebbles in. Jane and George then took a walk into the woods behind the garden, and first gathered up some pebbles from the bottom of the brook. George put the pebbles in the basket, and then be gan to look into the water for animals. lie found a few little creatures, but not many, for the water ran too swift ly in the brook for them to live there; so after a while Jane proposed that they should go to the pond. The pond was at some distance fur ther in the woods. The way to it was by a path which went winding in among rocks and bushes for a quarter of a mile. The pond was small, and the water in it was still. This allowed plants to grow and animals to thrive and multi ply, and here George found a large num ber of specimens. He dug up some plants from the mud, at the margin of the pond and put them into the bottom of his pail. Then wftli the dipper he fished up all the little wriggling spin-rounds that he could see in the water, and a number of crawl ing things which he saw on the bottom. He had always been afraid of such wrig- No. 10.