Happy International Innes Day!

[Innesfan]

William T. Innes, was born today in 1874. Enjoy your day off from water changes, filter media rinses, and glass wiping. And if you have Neon Tetras, P. innesi, keep an eye on them. They like to spawn on this day.

A colleague whom I met in the now defunct Collectors of Aquarium Literature group (1980-1994) sent several of us Innes-fans this. It's real. Don't know where WTI's ancestors came from but there are evidently a whole lot of Inneses in Dufftown, Scotland and they put on quite a show once a year. Don't know the occasion but it seems fitting today. Dufftown is in the Speyside region of Scotland notable for its many distilleries of fine single malt Scotch whiskey. Dufftown itself is home to the renowned Glenfiddich distillery and, coincidentally, my favorite potent potable, the lesser known but sublime Mortlach, which is IMO the finest single malt ever concocted by humankind.

So I raise a glass of the stuff to Wm. T. Innes who, for many of us, got us excited about the hobby through his brilliant writing, compelling and artful photographs, and enthusiasm for all things aquatic that you can keep in a glass box. Well, back then it was a metal-framed glass box.

s

 

[GaryE]

I disagree on the single malts (I like a little peat in the taste), but Innes' writing was a big part of what got me into this when I was younger. I've tried to analyze how he did it, but looking at his prose, he just wrote honestly. He was a grown man unafraid of showing his delight in little tropical fishes.
It's still something I'd suggest any young aquarist read. Sure, many things are dated, especially the tech. But sharp minds are eternal.

There's an immature joke to be made about "dufftown" and I usually can't avoid those.