Page:The aquarium - an unveiling of the wonders of the deep sea.djvu/35

10 the marine experiments; and from it I shall make a few extracts.

"The sea-water with which the experiments were conducted, was obtained through the medium of one of the oyster-boats at the Billingsgate fish-market, and was taken from the middle of the English Channel.

"My first object was to ascertain the kind of seaweed best fitted, under ordinary circumstances, for keeping the water clear and sweet, and in a sufficiently oxygenated state to sustain animal life. And here opinions were at variance, for one naturalist friend whom I consulted, advised me to employ the Rhodosperms; another stated that it was impossible to make the red weeds answer the purpose, as he had tried them, and strongly recommended the olive or brown-coloured Algæ; while, again, others thought that I should be more successful with those which had in theory first suggested themselves to my own mind, namely the Chlorosperms. After making numerous unsuccessful experiments with both the brown and the red varieties of Algæ, I was fully convinced that the green weeds were the best adapted for the purpose.

"This point having been practically ascertained, and some good pieces of the Enteromorpha and Ulva latissima in a healthy state, attached to nodules of flint or chalk, having been procured from the shore near Broadstairs, several living animal subjects were introduced, together with the periwinkle. EverthingEverything [sic] progressed satisfactorily, and these all continued in a healthy and lively condition.

"My first trials were conducted in one of the