Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/120

108 prevent the escape of objects during transit; the jolting of a railway train or coach might otherwise waste the contents. The stone jars used for the purpose, should have a cord attached round the rim of each for convenient handling at the brook side.

Pond fishing.&mdash;Every variety of stream or stagnant pond may be fished to advantage; but the specimens obtained from clear running brooks will, in general, differ greatly in character from those which the drag net brings from a dark still pool. Ponds which have formed in gravel pits, are generally well stocked with newts, mollusks, and tadpoles; but for the varieties of the beetle family, old ponds in meadows, and which are the resorts of cattle, are the best; ditches and rank brooks are the usual haunts of caddis worms, diving spiders, polypes, and the more beautiful varieties of water bugs; but every locality has its special attractions only to be learnt by experience.

Supposing that you have made a halt beside a pleasantly shaded brook, with hedge sparrows, robins, and black-caps warbling about you. You prepare by selecting a suitable spot free from brushwood, and where the edge of the water may be reached without danger. The first thing to be done is, to fill a few jars with clear water, and to throw into each a few strips of any common water-weed, of which callitriche is always the best, and most generally attainable. If the water is very foul it will be better to travel a little distance for a supply, because the specimens are wanted as cleanly as possible, and if thrown into clean water when caught, their own motions will tend