2 FISHES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



mere list of names — perfectly useless. I had then no alternative left 

 me save to collect and minutely describe every individual species. 

 Many of the species described by Mitchell, in his "Fishes of New York," 

 and by Le Sueur, in his various papers, inhabit our waters ; but as 

 the history of the former is contained in the volume of a Society's 

 Transactions, which is very difficult to obtain — and the contributions 

 of the latter are distributed through the pages of scientific journals 

 equally inaccessible to the general reader, I have described anew, 

 without regarding the previous accounts, every species which has fallen 

 under my observation. Since December, 1837, but a little more than 

 a year, all the descriptions have been written. Could I have known, 

 at first, that two seasons would have been allowed us for the prosecu- 

 tion of our labors, better specimens might in many instances have been 

 procured for description — and the hurried manner, in which several 

 of the descriptions have been necessarily written, would have been 

 avoided. 



Want of sufficient time, then, is my only excuse for not having done 

 what time alone could accomplish. Without the assistance of kind 

 and attentive correspondents and friends, I could have done literally 

 nothing. Constantly confined by professional avocations, you will at 

 once perceive that I have depended entirely upon others to collect and 

 preserve the materials — endeavoring myself only to distinguish, ar- 

 range and describe them. To each and every individual who has 

 aided me, I have given credit in his appropriate place — and I trust, 

 the name of no one, through inadvertence, has been omitted. 



To the following gentlemen I feel under peculiar obligations: 



Thomas Kidder, Esq., of the General Inspection Office, Boston, for 

 his polite attentions in furnishing me with all the statistical information 

 in his power, regarding the quantities of fish inspected in the State ; 



C. R. Vickery, Esq., of Taunton, for his very acceptable remarks 

 respecting the fisheries of Taunton river ; 



Hiram Hosmer, M. D., of Watertovvn, for his numerous and valuable 

 facts concerning the fisheries of Charles river; 



Elisha Bartlett, M. D., of Lowell, for his interesting account of the 

 fisheries of the Merrimack river ; 



J. B. Forsyth, M. D., of Sandwich, for much useful information 

 respecting the fishes taken along "the Cape;" 



Jonathan Johnson, Esq., of Nahant, for several very rare species — 

 and many useful observations concerning more common fishes. 



To Capt. Nathaniel Blanchard, of Lynn, and Leroy M. Yale, M. D., 



