VI PREFACE. 



branch of zoology, as a book of reference ; and that 

 those who have not time or inclination to study the 

 subject, may find herein a ready means of discovering 

 the names of any fishes they may come across, and 

 wish to identify. 



To the late Dr. Jerdon I am indebted for first direct- 

 ing my attention to this interesting study, and for 

 much help in mastering the primary difficulties. 



From Dr. Gunther, of the British Museum, I 

 have received much kind assistance, notably in the 

 revision of my List of Species. 



I have made free use of such works and publications 

 on the subject as I have been able to procure. 

 Among others, Surgeon Major Day's Monograph of 

 Indian Cyprinidse, published in the Journal of the 

 Asiatic Society of Bengal ; his Eeport on the Indian 

 Fisheries, and various papers in the Proceedings of 

 the Zoological Society of London ; also the works of 

 Dr. Francis Hamilton (formerly Buchanan) and Dr. 

 John McClelland. 



I have been under the disadvantage of being far 

 from the reach of any standard library or large 

 museum to refer to. in cases of difficulty. This draw- 

 back would have been indeed fatal, were it not for 

 the British Museum Catalogue, in which all the in- 

 formation previously published by various authors has 

 been laboriously collected together. Such species as 

 are insufficiently known, or which for any reason 

 are doubtful, I have placed apart in an Appendix. 



