This illustration is printed with an article that teaches children natural history, combining instructions for the ‘home amusement’ of an aquarium with simplified contemporary science. The ‘metamorphosis of the tadpole’ is described: ‘First the external gills appear, tiny tufts on each side of the head; then two legs sprouting near the tail; after that, the fore legs make their appearance, when the tail is gradually absorbed into the body, and the little fellow hops nimbly to the nearest leaf or rock, and finally quits the water altogether. In every form these erratic “wriggle-woggle-bobbas”are as active as interesting; not the least so as a microscopic object, the circulation of the blood in the tail being a most exquisite and wonderful sight’.
Dalziel, illustration for ‘The Aquarium, and how to manage it’, in Laura Valentine (ed.), The Home Book of Pleasure and Instruction (London: Frederick Warne, 1867). Dalziel Archive Vol. XXIII (1867), British Museum reg. no. 1913,0415.184, print no. 663. By Permission of the Trustees of The British Museum. All Rights Reserved © Sylph Editions, 2016