348 THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY 



The study of Ichthyology is attended with much more dif- 

 ficulty than that of any other branch of zoology ; not only are 

 the species very numerous and often very difficult to distinguish one 

 from the other, but they also present difficuties from their size and 

 mode of preservation ; a small box may contain a large number of 

 insects ; and it is the same with shells, and to a certain degree, 

 with bird skins ; fishes, on the contrary, are generally preserved 

 in liquor ; the vases that contain them are large, bulky, easily 

 broken, and very difficult to transport. The rules of most of the 

 Australian Museums do not allow specimens to be removed from 

 their buildings ; and whatever may be the kindness of the 

 curators, they cannot break these rules. On the other hand, 

 numerous books are required for the study of fishes ; and those 

 are not generally found in the scientific establishments of this 

 country. These reasons explain why certain species from 

 Sydney contained in the Australian Museum are not included 

 or described in this paper. 



The Brisbane and Adelaide Museums have adopted a different 

 system, and have sent me all their fishes, and thus their Ich- 

 thyological collections, &c., are complesely named, while those 

 of the other museums are the very reverse. 



Mr. W. Macleay owns a splendid collection of Australian 

 zoology, and has most liberally lent me specimens and valuable 

 books. I am also indebted to him for several rectifications in the 

 names of the species. 



Mr. Ramsay, of the Australian Museum, has also done all in 

 his power to assist me by lending me any of his own books I had 

 not in my own library. 



The species here mentioned as inhabiting Port Jackson, number 

 two hundred and nineteen, of which one hundred and thirty 

 have, till now, only been found in Australian waters, and eighty- 

 six extend their habitat to other seas. 



Of about one hundred and fifty sorts that have, to my know- 

 ledge, been observed in Hobson's Bay and its vicinity, only 

 thirty-seven are included amongst those found at Sydney. This 

 is a curious fact as these two localities are so near one another. 

 If we examine the localities of the sorts found in other regions, 



