The Life Story of the Fish 



HIS MANNERS AND MORALS 



by Brian Curtis 



Formerly Supervising Fisheries Biologist, California State Division of Fish and Game 



Much more is known about the behavior and capabilities of the fish than most of us 

 realize. In fact, a majority of the idle questions we have all asked of ourselves at 

 one time or another (Do fish sleep? Can they distinguish color? Can they hear?) have 

 been answered by modern scientists. Yet the answers to these and hundreds of 

 other questions were buried in technical journals and consequently unavailable to 

 most of us until Brian Curtis wrote this remarkable book, a comprehensive survey of 

 practically everything worth knowing about fish. 



First published in 1938, it brought unanimous acclaim from the nation's critics for 

 its clarity, its accuracy, and its sheer readability. Curtis covers a tremendous variety 

 of subjects, and most of them will interest the normally inquisitive layman as well 

 as the angler, the aquarium owner, and students of biology and ichthyology. 



Beginning with a chapter on the evolution of the fish, Curtis covers in turn their 

 body covering, framework, the senses and the nervous system, the air-bladder, 

 internal workings, and reproduction and growth. There are sections on trout, salmon, 

 and other game fish as well as a discussion of conservation and the state of 

 modern fishing industries, and the book concludes with a fascinating chapter on 

 various curious kinds of fish and their remarkable adaptations to environment (the 

 flounder, for instance, whose eye sometimes passes through his head to join the 

 other eye, or the remora, whose sucker is so strong that natives sometimes attach 

 a line to it, drop it near a turtle, and use it to tow the turtle to shore.) 



"Lively, vivid, and humorous," NEW YORK TIMES. "Clear, simple language . . . excel- 

 lent judgment in choice of subjects . . . delightful sense of humor . . . many will 

 read it at a sitting," SATURDAY REVIEW. "An especially fine example of scientific 

 information couched in non-technical language. . . . Entertaining, humorous," SCIEN- 

 TIFIC BOOK CLUB REVIEW. "An admirable example of popular scientific exposition." 

 TIMES (LONDON) LITERARY SUPPLEMENT. "Sets a high standard," YALE REVIEW. 



Unabridged republication of second, revised edition (1949). Index. 72-item bibliog- 

 raphy. 6 full-page photographic plates, xii + 284pp. 5% x 8. 



T929 Paperbound $1.50 



THIS DOVER EDITION IS DESIGNED FOR YEARS OF USE 



THE PAPER is chemically the same quality as you would find in books priced 



$5.00 or more. It does not discolor or become brittle with age. Not artificially 



bulked, either; this edition is an unabridged full-length book, but is still easy 



to handle. 



THE BINDING: The pages in this book are SEWN in signatures, in the method 



traditionally used for the best books. These books open flat for easy reading and 



reference. Pages do not drop out, the binding does not crack and split (as is the 



case with many paperbacks held together with glue). 



THE TYPE IS LEGIBLE: Margins are ample and allow for cloth rebinding. 



