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Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/35

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THE FRESH-WATER AQUARIUM.
25

heads in plenty, each new head springing from the base of a leaf on a long stalk. By separating these when pretty well grown, and removing the stem from the base, any number of new plants may be formed. If it be wanted to root at the bottom (as indeed is best) cut away the decayed portion of the base, and trim off every dark-coloured leaf and throw the plant in again. In a few weeks it will throw out roots, and it may then be attached to a stone

VALLISNERIA SPIRALIS.

by a piece of bass, and dropped in to fix itself where wanted, without in any way disturbing the tank.

Starwort I have already spoken of, as a good purveyor of oxygen. It is a pretty plant of a delicate green hue, which appears on the surface of brooks and ditches everywhere, both in this country and all over the continent. At a little distance it has so much the appearance of duck-