INTRODUCTION. VII 



tinned the publication of preliminary descriptions, it being our liope to print a final memoir 

 upon them without much delay. It was not until 1801, however, that we were able to 

 complete our studies, the illness and death of Prof. I>aird having interrupted the work 

 and thrown upon each of us new responsibilities which left little time at our command. 

 We had, however, prepared for Mr. Agassiz preliminary reports upon the deep-sea fishes 

 of the Blale, taken in ISSO (published in 1883), and upon those taken in 1878 and 1S7!> (pub- 

 lished in 1S8(!), and had also furnished the notes upon the fishes for his general work. Three 

 Cruises of the Blake. Besides the Blake fishes of 1878-'79-'80, we continued to receive those 

 from the Alhatr OSS until that vessel passed into the Pacific in 1888. Her more recent collec- 

 tions are being worked up by Prof. C. H. Gilbei-t and by Dr. Bean, who is studying those 

 of the Alaskan seas, and by Mr. (Jarman, wlio is reporting ui)on thoseobtained off the west 

 coast of Central America, partly made under the direction of Mr. Agassiz in 1891. 



The work, as it now appears, is in many respects very unsatisfactory to its authors. It 

 has been written at odd hoiu's snatched from administrative duties, too often in the very 

 midst of them — always under the pressure of haste, and always with the feeling of impa- 

 tience that more exhaustive studies could nr)t be made. Later, serious illness delayed its 

 printing. 



As first planned it was to include only the oceanic fishes of the east coast of North 

 America, but it gradually expanded to embrace all those species of the Atlantic Basin and 

 all the oceanic genera of the world. 



It was first ready for the press in 1885, then revised and rewritten in 1888, then again 

 in 1891, and again in 18'J-l as it was going through the press. 



The appearance of Gunther's final reports upon the Challem/er fishes, 1887, of Vaillant's 

 upon those of the Trdvailleur in 1888, of Alcock's Inreniiijalor papers in 18.s9-18'.»t!, of Col- 

 lett's Hirondellc notes in ISSD, have each, in their turn, caused much revision and rewrit- 

 ing, and the appearance of Liitken's Spolia Atlantica, Part li, printed in 1892, has made it 

 necessary to reset a number of pages. 



In its present form it stands as a compendium and sunimaiy of existing knowledge in 

 regard to Oceanic Ichthyology. No one knows when there will be oiiportunity for its 

 further study. There are no expeditions and there seems to be no prospect for new ones. 

 Even the Albatross, built by the United States expressly for this service, is diverted to 

 police duty about the Seal Islands. 



Public interest is sated by the crude preliminary results already obtained. The scien- 

 tific world knows that the knowledge of to-day, in all branc-hes of thalassograi)hic work, is 

 incomplete and rudimentary in the extreme, and that, with the experience now acijnired, 

 the results of future exploration will be immensely greater. We can only hope for a 

 renaissance in this field. 



In making acknowledgments to those who have aided in this work, we think first of 

 our dear friend, the late I'rof. Baird, of the pains with which he jnovided every facility, 

 and of the interest with which, twice a day, when studies were in progress, he came to the 

 laboratory to talk oVer the discoveries and discuss them. To his successor as Commissioner 

 of Fisheries, Col. McDonald, we owe the granting of every retiuest we have made, and our 

 requests have been many. To Mr. Alexander Agassiz we are likewise indebted for cour- 

 tesies many and great, not the least of which is the patience with which he has waited 

 ten years for a report which was promised in three. To Prof. Theodore (!ill we ofier our 

 thanks for counsel and information, lavishly and ungrudgingly bestowed, out of the fullness 

 of his ichthyological wisdom. To Commander Z. L. Tanner, IT. S. N., in command of the 

 Albatross, imd. Mr. J. E.Benedict, naturalist of the ship, much is due for the manner in 

 ■which the collections were gathered and preserved. To Dr. (iiiuther we owe inspiration 

 and kindly advice; to Dr. Sauvage, of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, to Dr. 

 Liitken, to Prof. Collett and to Dr. Alcock, to Dr. Ililgendorf, President Jordan, and 

 Mr. Garman, frequent letters and the use of specimens; to Prof. Giglioli, the use of his 

 matchless collection of Italian vertebrates, among which were the fishes collected by 

 the steamer Washhu/ton in the Mediterranean. Capt. H. T. Brian, of the Government 



