FISHES OF MADEIRA. 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the present state of systematic Ichthyology, and particularly in a 

 work which undertakes, for the first time, to register at intervals the na- 

 tural productions of a coast and ocean unexplored, it has appeared a re- 

 quisite precaution against the alterations or displacements likely to be 

 caused by fresh discoveries, to postpone, during the course of publication, 

 all attempts at method or arrangement to the end. 



In most undertakings of this kind, the probability of such disturbance 

 is diminished by the more advanced state of knowledge generally on the 

 subject, or by the local observations and experience of others. Their 

 author either has immediate opportunities of appealing to the records of 

 his predecessors, and to the judgment of contemporaries ; or, by removal 

 from the field of his researches, he is effectually debarred all access to ad- 

 ditional materials derived from the spot. 



The circumstances in the present case are different. Ichthyology, 

 viewed whether in its systematical arrangements, or as a simple register of 

 forms, is so comparatively iu its infancy, that almost every month produces 

 some addition to its lists, demanding fresh modifications of its groups and 

 families. The author has to pioneer his way alone, not only through a 

 region altogether new and unexplored in this department, but through 

 one which, peculiarly rich as it has proved already, he is confident is yet 

 far from exhausted, and which he is likely to continue to explore. He 

 will not therefore lay down the ground-work of his chart, or trace his line 

 of route definitively, so long as any opportunity remains for correcting its 

 bearings, or improving its direction. 



There are, however, doubtless many persons whom this plan, without 

 some accompanying corrective to its disadvantages, would exclude from any 

 interest in the following pages ; and who might decline to step into a 

 labyrinth of forms and names, without some clue to guide them through 

 its seeming intricacies. For such, the following sketch of the present 

 state of systematic Ichthyology is offered ; which, if deficient or super- 



VOL. I. B 



