Page:Sea and River-side Rambles in Victoria.djvu/94

75 casualties, but we cannot always obtain specimens. Yet after all there are many who must resort to this artificial water, and so we give Mr. Gosse's receipt for it; giving some little hope in the experience of Mr. Hibberd, that it serves all the purposes admirably, there being no diminution of vigour or beauty in the plants, or of gambolling playfulness in the animals. Strange, however, if such was his opinion in the book from which we have quoted, that only a brief time after in his "Book of the Aquarium," page 59, he states, how quite unsuited for animal life of any kind is this artificial seawater, until it has been brought into condition by means of growing weeds for eight or ten days, and for Crustaceans, Starfishes, and Fishes proper, it is not suitable till it has been in use for many months, and even then some species lose their health in it, and at last perish. These, however, are the constituents of the artificial seawater:—

or, according to Mr. Hibberd:— This should be tested by the hydrometer until it reaches a specific gravity of 1&middot;028, being that of seawater.