PEEFACE. 



-♦>- 



The fisheries of this country — hoth sea and river — have 

 now assumed such vast importance, that I have great 

 pleasure in acceding to the wish of the Committee of 

 the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, to 

 bring out a new edition of this book. 



The first edition was known under the title of 

 Familiar History of British Fishes. 



Having since the publication of this bo.ok served 

 Officially on several Government Fishery Commissions, 

 I have lost no opportunity — -whether on my travels, In- 

 spections, or at court sittings — -to obtain all possible 

 information relative to fish and fishing. This, therefore, 

 is not merely a book on Ichthyology, but is an intro- 

 ductory guide to the great and important science of 

 fish- culture. 



The general public have not, I am sui'e, an idea of 

 the vast importance of this science ; let them therefore 

 for a moment consider from whence must come the 

 enormous daily supplies to be counted by hundreds of 

 tons of fish for the great markets such as Billingsgate, 

 Liverpool, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glas- 

 gow, &c., &c. 



