The Herald FIELD CLUB

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22540, 3 October 1936, Page 9 (Supplement)

The Herald FIELD CLUB

BROTHER RAMBLERS.— 'THERE are jo many things that I would like to tell you about this week. The world about us is awakening if we have but eyes to look and see! But space does not permit of our watching everything, and I made you that promise that you should have some notes on an aquarium. Below is the first of a series of three articles. Very soon lam going to ask our ramblers to write and tell me of those branches of nature-study in which they are interesting themselves. Every day you will be becoming more keen on your hobby as that veil of Nature slips away, and' you make really the most splendid fun in the world. Here is a message from Louis Agassiz, the great French scientist, who also wrote our motto: " The study of Nature is an intercourse u)ith the highest wind. You should never trifle with Nature. At the lowest her works are the works of the highest powers, the highest something in whatever way we may look at it. A laboratory of Natural History is a sanctuary where nothing profane should be tolerated." THE MARINE AQUARIUM

How mauv ramblers have ever peeped into the other world of rockpools by the sea; 'a world beneath water of crystal clearness, wherein brown and golden seaweeds lie still as frozen forests until they stir with the passing of a crab beneath them, and where a sea-nnenione, striped like peppermint bar, only more beautiful, lies expanded and motionless, waiting quietly for a meal to swim its way? Many a time on the East Coast I have spent hours among tiiese fairy pools at low-water, watching the life below me until my nose has tipped the water, and everything is veiled with tiny ripples over the surface. And then I set about establishing an aquarium inland, about seven miles from the sea. It was a homely affair. A large glass jam-jar was filled with sea-water, and little chips of rock to which wore attached a green seaweed (ulva), sometimes called sea-lettuce, were set among white sand at the bottom. Every day the jar was placed in the sunlight and a week later, five animals were introduced —a very small starfish, a chiton, a sea-snail, a seaanemone and a hermit-crab. .1 possessed this small aquarium for two years, and at the end of that period the water was as fresh, the seaweed as green, and the animals as healthy as the day on which they were placed therein. In sunlight the green seaweed gave off thousands of silver bubbles of oxygen gas, extracted from the carbondioxide in tho water. This latter gas was the waste product of animal-life, yet the food of the plants. The oxygen, on the other hand, was the waste-pro-duct of plant-life, yet vitally necessary for the sustaining of animal-life. Thus was demonstrated the great balance of Nature, bv which plant-life is dependant on animal, and the animal on plantlife. But it must be remembered that this process is only carried on in the presence of sunlight.

Perhaps you, too, may care to set up such a marine aquarium in a jam-jar. A large glass jar such as confectioners use for holding sweets, is ideal for this type of aquarium if one can be obtained. In a fortnight's time I will give you details of the construction of an oblong tank, and those of our members who have skill- with tools may perhaps care to wait find build an aquarium large enough to hold up to 40 or 50 animals. POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED 1. Do not collect sea water near the mouths of streams. 2. Do not put any seaweed in your aquarium other than green ulva. _ 3. Do not place too many animals in your tank. Err on the side of too few to commence with. 4. Do not allow water to become tepid in the sunshine. •5. Do not feed the animals. They will find their food in the microscopic animals in the water. 6. Add a little fresh water when sea water evaporates. , ~ These important points, with modifications, apply also to the fresh-water aquarium. Water-cress grows everywhere and is quite suitable for aerating the water. Fresh-water snails, tadpoles, and perhaps a small fish or two will all flourish in your tank. GET A MAGNIFYING GLASS

Every member of our H.F.C. should possess himself or herself of a magnifying glass. It is no exaggeration to say that by the systematic use of such a glass the pleasure and profit of work as a field naturalist, is at least doubled. How and why? Because a magnifying glass opens new worlds to you. It is as though an observer, confined within the four walls of a small garden, had suddenly had those walls set back to the horizon. Mosses and fungi disclose exquisite beauties under a lens. With such aid, and say, a live bee sipping nectar, you will be able to conduct splendid investigations into the mysteries of insect life. But a great deal more of this later! PRESSING AND MOUNTING PLANTS Lay your specimen out to suit your taste between two sheets oft newspaper or other coarse-grained paper, put the sheets between two boards, and place heavy weights, such as four or five bricks or a bucket full of sand, on the top board. Change the paper after 12 hours and again after 24 hours, so that the plants will dry quickly and not lose their natural colours. When thoroughly dry, mount them on sheets by pasting narrow loops of paper across the stems at suitable places. The mounting paper should be fairly heavy, and about Sin. by lOin. in size; -smooth pieces of brown wrapping-paper will do very well. Make two heavy cardboard covers about 9in. by llin.; cut a straight line almost through each cover about £in. from one of the long edges, break each cardboard along that line, and paste heavy paper across the break on one side to form a hinge. Now punch two holes about 6in. apart on the narrow side of each hinge and make corresponding holes near the left-hand edge or each sheet on whcih a plant has been mounted. By passing strings through these holes and tying them, you have a bound "flower book in which new pages can be inserted whenever necessary. Write the nanio of each flower on the (xjkc where 'J 1 ® pasted, the. date of collection, ocaJity where collected, together with »"X ~.j other interesting information you may gather about it from time to time. ,