PREFACE. 



In preparing this work, I have tried to make it, as 

 nearly as I could, what it professes to be, viz. a Hand- 

 book. In fact, when commencing on it, I intended it 

 as much for my own use as for that of others, to save 

 perpetual references to and comparisons among various 

 books and publications. When I first took up the 

 study of Ichthyology I found, and still find, that the 

 great difficulty is to know where to look for any par- 

 ticular information one requires : and I have therefore 

 attempted to bring together, in a compact form, such 

 items as I have found practically to be most frequently 

 wanted. It may be some time before a complete work 

 on the Indian Fishes, with full descriptions of their 

 peculiarities and habits, and copiously illustrated, can 

 appear ; in the meantime I trust that this little work 

 may supply a want, and perhaps assist in creating an in- 

 terest in a subject that has at present but few students. 

 My hope therefore is that this compilation (for it 

 does not profess to be anything more than a compila- 

 tion) may prove useful to my fellow-workers in this 



