Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/116

104 breadth of eight inches to receive a row of six inch glasses; the second shelf a breadth of five inches, and the jars upon it measure four inches in diameter. The top shelf is only three-and-a-half inches wide, and the glasses on it measure three inches across the top, and, two-and-a-half at the base; the jars of this size, in my own collection, are of a tapering form, half an inch narrower at the bottom than at the top, though I am not aware whether such is the usual form of the small vessels. The entire framework has a breadth of about thirty-two inches, and a height, from the floor of the room to the level of the top shelf, of about sixty-six inches.

The breadth and height of the window, in which the cabinet is to be placed, must have the first consideration, with any one who may intend to construct such a piece of furniture; the respective sizes of the vessels must be an after consideration, because, unless the whole be so adapted, as that it shall enjoy a full share of uninterrupted daylight, very little progress can be effected, especially if the growth of the more delicate forms of aquatic vegetation be attempted.

In the absence of a properly constructed set of shelves, a few plain ones may be fitted up in a window. A single strip of deal, on brackets, would afford room for a dozen jars, and in these by judicious grouping, specimens of from fifty to a hundred kinds could be kept, whether for observation by the naked eye, or the microscope.

Glasses.—In common with many aquarians I used phials and confectioners’ show-glasses for a considerable length of time; but to preserve the uniformity of the