162 Benhefs Fishes of Ceylon, 



press, combined with the contents of the volumes now before the public, 

 will be received as pledges of the fulfilment of his intentions, so far as rests 

 with himself. ♦ 



" The advantages resulting from the arrangements are evident; as the 

 entire work, although containing the same quantity of matter as at first 

 proposed, will not only be completed in half the period it would otherwise 

 nave occupied, but the aggregate expense will be diminished about one 

 third; and no less than 104 genera of insects, including the descriptions, 

 &-C. of nearly 600 species, will be finished in fourteen months, illustrated 

 with 98 figures, embracing 80 mostly very rare species; 54 of Coleoptera, 

 and 26 of Lepidoptera ; and, for the future, nearly every tenth species will 

 be figured, and about 800 described annually. 



" Finally, the author begs to refer his readers to the review of his first eight 

 numbers, in No. XI. of the Zoological Journal, and in p. 472. of Vol. IV. of 

 the Introduction to Entomology, as unprejudiced testimonials of the charac- 

 ter of his work." {Advert, on Cover of No. XIII.) 



Bennet, John Whitchurch, Esq. F.H.S., and Member of the Literary and 

 Agricultural Society of Ceylon : Fishes of Ceylon; a Selection of the 

 most remarkable and interesting of the Fishes found on the Coast of 

 Ceylon, from Drawings made in the Southern Parts of that Island, from 

 the living Specimens. London. 4to, 5 pis. One Guinea. To be con- 

 tinued monthly, and completed in Six Numbers. 



In the prospectus it is stated, that, in Ceylon, the fishes are not less beau- 

 tiful in appearance, than they are for the most part delicious as food, and 

 that of many of them neither drawing nor description has been given to the 

 public. The plates of Mr. Bennet's work, it is stated, will be " accurate 

 fac-similes of the original drawings, all of which have been made from the 

 living fish. Several of these specimens are so extraordinary, that they might 

 be taken for mere creatures of the artist's imagination ; but they will be 

 accompanied by a certificate from the head men of the Fisher's Caste 

 affirming them to be correct delineations. The descriptive portion of the 

 work will combine such local information as the author has been able to 

 collect, with so much as can be gleaned from preceding writers on the sub- 

 ject. The Cingalese name of each specimen will be given, together with 

 the Linnean, wherever it can be obtained. 



" In order that the greatest accuracy may be attended to in the number 

 of radii in the fins and gill-covers of the fishes delineated, those particular 

 parts, prepared in a dry state, and classed in boxes, together with the ori- 

 ginal drawings, agreeably to the numbers of the work to which they have 

 reference, may be seen at Mr. Morris's office, 30. Regent Street, Pail-Mall." 

 The contents of No. I. are : 



1. Scorpx'^na {skorpios, a scorpion ; supposed power of inflicting incurable 

 wounds) volitans (volito, to fly about). The native name of this fish is 

 Great Fire, from its colour. The essential 

 specific character is, " pectoral fins(^g. 62. a) 

 longer than the body." The description is 

 as follows : — 



Branchiostegous {branchics, gills, stege, a 

 covering) rays {b) six. Dorsal {dorsum, 

 back) {c i), twenty-four, thirteen of them 

 spinous, varied with black and reddish- 

 brown ; the colours stronger on the spinous 

 rays than on the others. Pectoral ( pectus, 

 the chest) {d), fourteen ; the connecting 

 membrane bluish and brown. Ventral (wn^er, 

 the belly) (e), six, one spinous, bluish, spot- 

 ted with white. Anal {anus) ( / ), ten, three 



