PREFACE TO THE SUPPLEMENT. 



On publishing this Supplement to the History of British 

 Fishes, I have only respectfully and very sincerely to return 

 my best thanks to those friends and naturalists, who have, 

 either by their private communications or public announce- 

 ments, supplied the novelties contained herein. 



These additions to the British Catalogue of Fishes are so 

 many gratifying testimonials of the increasing number of 

 observers, whose attention is directed towards the inhabitants 

 of our seas ; and I feel a sincere pleasure in the prospect of 

 the many new subjects, and more correct illustrations, which 

 our Ichthyology is likely to derive from the great interest 

 now taken in this branch of Natural History. 



To render the pictorial part of this Supplement as useful 

 as its size and character would admit, I have introduced, as 

 vignettes, representations of the bones of the cranium of 

 several well-known fishes, derived from the works of Cuvier, 

 Rosenthall, and others : and should this part of the plan be 

 approved as a worthy mode of occupying a portion of that 

 space usually devoted to lighter subjects, it may, on some 

 future occasion be so enlarged upon as to include an illus- 

 tration of one cranium in almost all the principal genera. 

 In the present instance, however, not to interfere with the 

 ornamental appearance of these crania, as vignettes, by a 

 repetition of letters or numbers in reference to each parti- 

 cular bone, I have confined the markings to the Perch only, 

 as here introduced, premising, that a little useful persever- 

 ance will lead to a knowledge of the analogous bones in 

 other crania. 



